Changes
by Kattis
Summary: What do you do if everything you had ever worked for suddenly crumbled in front of your eyes? That is exactly what happens to fifteen year old Cat Williams. But what if not all changes are bad? AgitoXoc Sorry for the lack of updates!
1. Change 1: A new Team Leader

"Why do you have to leave?" her former second in command protested.

Cat looked down to the ground in shame. "My mom got a promotion which requires us to move."

"You can just stay with me." Jaycee, the second in command whispered desperately. "We're nothing without you, Cat."

Cat laughed sadly. "I'm only fifteen. I have to go."

Jaycee scoffed and kicked the ground in anger. The impact caused a wheel on her Air Treks to crack. Cat looked at the wheel and pictured it as her heart. The desperate look in her best friends eyes only caused that crack to grow.

'Keep your cool.' Cat thought to herself. 'You are a demon. Demons do not cry.'

Tears slowly dribbled down her cheeks as she thought this. Jaycee looked on in surprise. She had never seen Cat cry ever.

"Are you crying?" Jaycee asked.

Cat threw a glare towards the girl. "No! I just got dirt in my eye."

"Sure you did."

Cat huffed. "I did! I swear it!"

"You're crying because you love us."

"No, you are merely my tools of victory. Demons do not love anything."

"Except that one guy. You remember at the…"

Cat hurriedly grabbed her friends throat to silence her.

"You said you wouldn't ever speak of that again." she hoarsely whispered to her friend.

Jaycee merely nodded in agreement. She sighed in relief when Cat released her death grip.

"Now, down to business." she said in a serious tone. "We need to discuss the future of this team."

"Shouldn't we call everyone here first?" Jaycee asked quietly.

"I already did that a while ago." Cat replied. "I just wanted you to be the first to know."

Jaycee's eyes began to fill with tears. "I'm sorry. I really never belonged on this team. I'm such a crybaby."

Cat slowly wiped off the stray wetness from Jaycee's cheeks. "If I really thought that, do you really think you would be second in command?"

Jaycee smiled as she shook her head. Soon, the rest of the team began to fill the abandoned railroad station that they used as a hideout. Des, the team's mechanic, approached first.

"What's goin' on?" he asked sleepily. "I was right in the middle of a nap."

Cat looked at him sternly. "News. Big news."

The sound of excited whispers filled Cat's ears as she prepared to tell everyone the news. As if Jaycee could read the frustration in Cat's eyes, she yelled, "Quiet!"

"Thanks." Cat whispered to a triumphant Jaycee.

She cleared her throat and looked at the twelve members of her team.

"As Des might have told you, I have some big news to tell you." She began. "I'm leaving the team. You see I-"

The roars of anger drowned out the rest of her sentence. "What?" Why?" You can't just abandon us!"

Cat's calm about the situation finally snapped.

"Shut the fuck up!" She screamed. "You think I want to leave the best thing that's ever happened to me? My stupid mother got a promotion and the company is forcing us to move to Japan! I have to go!"

Tears of rage began to fall from her eyes as she screamed this. All of the team was finally quiet after their leader's outburst.

"I'm sorry." Cat sobbed, as she turned away from her team.

She wiped the tears from her eyes and continued. "I don't want this team to disband. We have worked way too hard to get where we are and I cannot just let you all throw it away."

"That's why I'm making Jaycee the new leader of this team."

A collective gasp came from the team. Cat just smiled and drug Jaycee to the front of the station.

"Why me?" she protested angrily as she drug her hot pink Air Treks into the ground.

"Keep it up and that rear wheel of yours is going to break." Cat whispered in her ear.

"Hmph." Jaycee scoffed as she crossed her arms in a childish manner.

"Say hello to your new leader, kittens!" Cat yelled into the crowd. "And don't be jack asses or I'll personally kick the shit outta you!"

Jaycee looked at the team nervously. Most of them were either busy picking their noses or glaring at her enviously.

'Stupid Cat making me leader.' she thought angrily. 'I should just kill her now.'

Cat fiercely punched her in the side. "Focus."

"Alright." Jaycee began. "Well, as your new leader, I think that we should remain the same. I don't want Cat's leaving to affect us in any way at all. We are still Prowess. We still rule the west coast!"

"Yeah! We still are the best!" the members of Prowess cheered.

"Des, Come here!" Cat shouted.

The blonde looked up and nodded before getting out of his seat. He slowly glided to the front of the room, thinking the worst.

"I-if this is because I didn't stand up and cheer, then I-" Des rambled, only to be interrupted by a punch to his face.

"Shut it, you moron!" Cat hissed. "That's not what I'm talking about. As my last act of leader, I'm appointing you second in command of Prowess. You're one of the only people on this team I would trust my best friend's life to."

Des took in the words slowly, his mouth gaping.

"Hey Des, trying to catch flies?" Jaycee asked with a giggle.

Des shook his head and quickly closed his mouth. "I've just been appointed your second in command."

Jaycee looked at him. "Really?"

"Yes, really." he replied.

Cat stood in the shadows and watched her team. They truly looked happy, despite the major changes that seemed to fall on them.

"They are in good hands." Cat whispered to herself before she took off into the evening.


	2. Change 2: A new Country

Cat sighed as she finished packing her last box. The black sharpie squeaked as she wrote, 'Fragile, bitchezz!' across the top in big obnoxious letters.

"Done!" she called downstairs to her mother.

"Good." came the reply. "We have to hurry. The plane leaves soon."

Cat sighed and took one last glance around her former room.

'Her goes nothing.' she thought with a sad sigh as she handed the box to the moving company and headed out the door.

"Aren't you excited to be flying on an airplane?" her mother asked in an excited voice.

"I can fly whenever I want on my A-T's mom." she replied in a bored tone.

"Oh those little skates you and your friends play with?" her mother asked. "Those are nothing like an airplane, sweetie."

Cat just scoffed and turned away from her mother. She looked out the window of the plane and sighed.

'Nothing beats A-T's. Not even stupid planes.' she thought as she watched the plane slowly move down the runway.

The plane was soon in the air and on it's way toward Tokyo. It would be about fourteen hours until they reached their new home.

"Look out the window, Cat." her mother whispered as she shook her.

"Huh, wha?" Cat asked sleepily, eyes half open.

Cat looked out the window and gasped in awe. To her, all the houses looked like fireflies.

"We'll be flying over the ocean in about twenty minutes." the scratchy voice of the pilot informed them.

"Does that mean we'll be there soon?" Cat asked her mom as she continued to look out the window.

"We still have about five hours I think." her mother replied.

'Ugh.' Cat inwardly groaned. 'I'm tired of being on this stupid plane.'

"Why don't you go back to bed." her mother told her softly. "I don't want you to have jet lag when we get there."

Cat nodded and slowly gave in to the dark abyss that was sleep.

"Earthquake!" Cat screamed as she was awakened by the fierce jostling of the plane.

Cat's mother laughed, a deep laugh that shook her body almost as much as the plane. "We're just landing."

"Oh." Cat mumbled sheepishly as she played with her hair.

Cat glanced out the window and watched the buildings of the new country grow bigger with each passing second. A loud screeching could be heard as the planes wheels touched down with the asphalt. Cat gulped and continued to look out the window. She was not ready to get off the plane. To her, it felt like a really bad dream. Secretly, she wished she was still in California in her old home. All too soon, the plane stopped and passengers were busily gathering their belongings and heading out the door hatch.

"Come on." her mother prodded, pulling on her arm to get her to stand up.

Cat sighed and stood up, a defiant glare in her eyes.

'I'm the freakin demon tigress of the west! No way, I'm gonna be scared of some stupid little move.' she thought angrily as her mother pulled her though the airport.

"Ah, konnichiwa, Williams-san." a man in a black suit greeted with a heavy accent. I have your car waiting."

"Areegatooo." Cat's mother said terribly in Japanese.

"That means thank you." she whispered proudly to Cat as if she had just found a cure for cancer.

The man in the black suit laughed nervously, still trying to hide his amusement from the previous comment.

"Don't worry, dude, you get used to it after a while." Cat jokingly whispered to the man.

Cat looked out the window and had just finally noticed that it was about mid afternoon. "Hey, wasn't it night when we were over the ocean?"

"There is a complete time difference here." her mother replied knowingly.

Cat just nodded and watched as buildings flew past in a blur. Soon, they reached their new house. It was fairly modern in design and painted a friendly blue color.

"You see that window on the top to the left?" Her mother asked.

Cat nodded. "That's your room."

They immediately went inside and inspected the rest of the house. It was big enough to comfortably accommodate both Cat and her mom. There would also be quite a bit of room for extra stuff. It was a four bedroom house with two bathrooms and a medium size kitchen. Cat walked into the largest bathroom and gawked at the sight.

"What the hell is this!" she screamed to her mother who was just down the hall.

"Language, Cat." her mother scolded as she walked towards her. "It's a bathroom."

Cat looked at her mother, dumbfounded. "All it has is a pool and a shower. Where's the toilet?"

"This is just a room for bathing." her mother replied. "Now come on. I got a rental car and thought we should go look around. I'll show you your new school."

"Great." Cat muttered as she trudged after her mother.

"You start there tomorrow, by the way." her mother stated as she stepped into the car. "We need to get you a uniform."

"Uniform?" Cat screeched. "No way in hell am I wearing a stupid uniform."

Cat shuddered at the thought. If uniforms in real life were anything like the ones she saw in her anime, then she was bound to look like a hooker.

"Language!" her mother scolded once again. "You will wear a uniform and you will like it or I will take away you're A-L's!"

Cat sighed. "Fine. And it's A-T's"

"this is where you'll be attending school." Cat's mother told her.

"Higachu Junior High, huh." Cat mused as she looked at the huge building.

The store where they got a weeks supply of uniforms was awkward to say the least. None of the ladies who worked there could speak English to save their lives. Cat's mother's Japanese didn't help either. After about an hour of what seemed like a bad game of charades to Cat, they finally got the uniforms and headed out the door.

"Finally." Cat exclaimed, stretching. "Are we done now?"

Cat's mother sighed, exhausted. "Mhm. I have had enough for one day."

Cat was silent the whole way home. As soon as she reached the house, she immediately went up the stairs and into her new room.

"No dinner?" Cat's mother called from the kitchen.

Cat did not reply though, she was already sound asleep.


	3. Change 3: A new School

The sound of a faint beeping woke Cat from her light sleep.

"Ugh." she groaned as she slipped off her sheets and stretched.

She looked at herself in the mirror on her door and groaned. She looked awful. Her maple colored hair stood out in all directions and her golden yellow eyes had massive bags under them. She tore her gaze away from the mirror and shuffled into the large bathing room. She peeled off her clothes from the day before and attempted to turn on the shower. After about ten minutes of struggling with it, she finally got the water to a comfortable temperature. She sighed in content as the water hit her body. It seemed as if all her worries ran down the drain along with the water. The voice of her mother soon shattered her moment of peace.

"Cat!" her mother yelled from downstairs. "You only have half an hour to get to school! You don't want to be late on your first day, do you?"

"Shit." Cat hissed as she frantically turned off the water and hastily dried herself off.

She proceeded to shove herself into her new school's uniform. When she looking into the mirror she grimaced. It wasn't as bad as what she had seen in anime, but the skirt was still a little too short for her liking. She tugged nervously on the hem of the blue skirt in the hopes that it would make it a little longer.

"You look cute." her mother commented as she watched her daughter look herself over in the mirror. "Do you think you can take a bus to your school? I would take you but I have to get to work."

"I guess." she replied as she brushed the tangles out of her shoulder length hair.

'I'll just use my A-T's.' she thought as she watched her mother walk out the door. "Have a good day at work!"

Cat's mother smiled and then drove towards the city. As soon as she left, Cat ran to her room and grabbed her A-T's. She quickly gave them a once over and then strapped them on. As soon as the tiger striped wheels made contact with the pavement, she took off in the direction of her school. She laughed giddily as wind whipped her hair in her face. She had almost forgotten what it was like to just ride for fun, seeing as Prowess was constantly battling for supremacy. She quickly back flipped onto the roof of an old building and continued her journey from there.

'It should be quicker if I avoid crowded areas.' she thought as she leapt onto the roof of another building.

When she finally reached the school, she glanced at her cell phone and groaned. She was late, as usual. She hastily kicked of her A-T's and slipped on her black converses. She shoved the A-T's into her bag and sprinted to the front doors where a middle aged man was waiting for her.

"Ah, Williams-san, I see you've decided to come to school today." he commented dryly as he adjusted his tie.

"S-sorry." she muttered. "It took me longer to get here than I expected."

"I'll let you off this time, but you should know that tardyness is frowned upon here. Do it again and I will be forced to take action." he warned. "Now if you follow me, I'll show you to your new classroom."

Cat nodded and followed behind the man.

"My name is Orihara-sensei by the way." he said casually.

"Pleased to meet you." Cat replied politely. 'High horsed prick.'

"Here we are." Orihara said after about three minutes of walking. "Second year class five."

He motioned for her to step inside the opened doorway. She walked into the room with her head held high.

"H-hi, my name is Mari Tomita-sensei, but you can call me Ton-chan." a small framed blonde woman whispered quietly to her. "I'll be your teacher."

Cat gaped at the woman. For a teacher, she was quite underdressed: literally. She wore an almost see through tank top that exposed most of her breasts and a skirt that was clearly too short for her. Ton-chan nervously fidgeted with her blond spiky pigtails as she waited for the new student to respond.

'Oh, dear.' Ton-chan thought nervously. 'All the boys in my class are going to start to do mean things to me soon….'

Cat watched as the teacher began to fidget and run her hands down her sides. She looked at the students and noticed that all of the boys in the class drooling over the teacher. All but one. This boy was busy glaring at Cat for no reason at all.

'What the hell is his problem?' she thought as she glared back.

Cat's thoughts were interrupted by Orihara sensei as he loudly cleared his throat. "You should introduce yourself."

"Fine." Cat muttered. "I'm Cat Williams."

Ton-chan finished finished her porn star moment and switched back into teacher mode. "You can go sit in the desk next to Wanajima-san."

Cat slowly walked to the back right corner of the classroom and sat down. Almost immediately, she sensed the immense bloodlust coming from the seat nest to her. She looked at this Wanajima-san with curiosity. He seemed out of place.

'He's so short.' she thought with a giggle.

"You got a fucking problem?" he growled.

Cat realized she must've laughed out loud. She smiled at him innocently. "Nope. Not at all Wanajima-san."

Agito stared at the new girl for a moment. "Tch."

'Fuck, what is this girl's problem? She seems totally unfazed by me.' he thought to his other personality Akito.

'Don't worry about it.' Akito replied with a smile. 'Let's just stare at Ikki-kun for a while.'

Agito shuddered and ignored his other half. He was still bothered by the girl's calmness around his immense killing instinct. Surely the girl had to feel at least a little uneasy. Agito wasn't wrong. The aura he gave off was unsettling to Cat, she just chose to not let him know that.

'I'll let him underestimate me for a while.' she thought smugly.

Cat yawned as she walked up towards the roof of the school building. The three hours of class before lunch seemed to last forever to Cat.

"So tired." she whispered to herself as she trudged up the stairwell. "At least I can take a nap now."

As soon as she reached the roof, she was bombarded by a group of boys.

'Ugh.' Cat thought with a groan. 'The same ones drooling over the teacher.'

She watched in disgust as the short fat one began undressing her with his eyes. She glared and stomped angrily on his foot. When the pain registered, he yelled and proceeded to hop around on one foot and caress his injured one.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing, pig?" she growled menacingly. "Keep you perverted eyes offa me!"

The rest of the boys laughed at the demise of their friend.

"Man Onigiri, she got you good." the one with spiky black hair laughed.

"Shut up, Ikki." Onigiri hissed. "If I had my A-T's on I could totally kick her ass."

"Is that a challenge?" Cat asked calmly.

"You a storm rider?" Ikki asked.

"Only the best in the west." she replied smugly.

She glared at Onigiri. "Name your challenge and we'll see if you can really kick my ass."

The group of boy's excused themselves to discuss the terms of the challenge. As they were doing so, Cat was approached by a girl with glasses and curly brown hair in pigtails.

"Don't mind them." the girl laughed. "They may be perverted dumb asses, but they mean no harm. I'm Ringo Noyamano by the way."

Cat stared as Ringo held out her hand. Reluctantly, she grasped it with her own.

"Cat Williams."

The two girls smiled at each other and began to talk about Cat's life in America.

"You! New girl!" Ikki yelled. "We have some to agreement on the challenge!"

"You really ride A-T's? Ringo aksed.

Cat nodded before she strode over to the boys. "Fine. Name your challenge."

Onigiri stepped forward. Cat swore she could almost see the flames of determination in his eyes. "Here. Tonight. Nine. Hurdle. The loser has to be the slave of the winner for a month."

Cat watched in horror as he smiled a perverted grin. "They also get to pick out what they wear during slave duty."

"Whatever." Cat replied cooly before she walked back towards Ringo.

'So much for my nap.' she thought sadly as the bell signaled lunch was over.

"How was school, honey?" Cat's mother asked when she walked through the door.

"Awesome!" Cat lied. "I made new friends and everything!"

Cat looked at the clock on the wall. 'Four hours to go.'


	4. Change 4:A new Competitor

_**Well, I just realized that I haven't done a disclamer yet. So here it goes. I do not own Air Gear in any way shape or form. I only own my characters and my storyline. :D**_

"**Aren't you hungry?" Cat's mother asked in a worrisome tone. "You've barely touched your food."**

**Cat smiled at her mom. "I'm fine. I'm just not that hungry."**

'**I can't afford to get a stomach ache tonight.' she thought grimly. **

"**Thanks for dinner." Cat called as she ran up the stairs to her room. **

**She pulled her A-T's from her bag and tools from a box in the corner. She quickly tightened the wheels and installed her regalia. The Shadow regalia were a metallic white color with swirls of inky black that swirled towards the base of the regalia. When attached to an A-T, they ran completely around the bottom. Attached to the back of the regalia, were two small black straps that were wound around the users legs, to help better transfer the vibration. She absentmindedly spun the wheels of her A-T's as she stared at her small alarm clock. It read 7:45pm is glowing green letters. **

"**Shit!" Cat exclaimed when the time finally clicked with her. "I have to get ready!" **

**She hurriedly ran into her closet and dug through her clothes. **

'**Where is it?' she thought. 'I know I packed it.'**

**She smiled when she pulled her old uniform from the bottom of the closet. The pants were black with tiger stripes covering each back pocket. The word Prowess circled down the right pant leg in bright orange letters. She pulled these on and then threw on a tiger striped tank top. The jacket was her favorite part of the uniform. It was made of a black silky material and had her team emblem across the back. The Prowess emblem was an open snarling Tiger's mouth. The Top set of teeth formed the team name in sharp pointy letters and the bottom teeth were just normal tiger teeth. Tiger striped ribbons circled around both sleeves and framed the emblem on the back. The collar was like that of a bomber jacket and adorned with orange snaps. She then went to her jewelry box and pulled out her "teeth" She quickly fit them onto her already pointy canine teeth and smiled into a mirror. With her golden yellow eyes, she truly resembled a tiger. She then glanced at her clock. **

'**Half an hour.' she mused at she grabbed her A-T's and left her room. **

"**I'm going to visit some of my new friends." she told her mom casually. "I'll see you later."**

"**That's great honey!" her mother exclaimed. "I'll see you when you get back."**

**Cat put on her Air Trecks and attached the regalia straps to her legs. She sped down the street and into the air. Excitement raced through every nerve as she came closer and closer to the school. When she arrived, she saw Onigiri and the rest of his friends. Surprisingly, Ringo and two other girls Cat had never seen before were there as well. **

"**Hey, Ringo." Cat said when she reached them. **

**Ringo smiled and waved in reply. **

"**Hey!" Ikki called. "You never said you were on a team!"**

**Cat laughed sadly. "That's because I'm not. I left them when I moved here."**

**Onigiri looked his competitor up and down. **

"**She doesn't look like she's any good." Onigiri whispered to the blonde kid beside him. **

**Kazu snickered and nodded in reply. **

"**Whatever." Cat scoffed. "You ready?"**

"**The rules are simple, you must follow the set course. The first one to reach the finish wins." Ikki told them. **

**Cat and Onigiri nodded. Ikki through a coin in the air and as soon as it landed, the two storm riders were off. Cat watched in amusement as Onigiri just barely managed to wall ride the first building. **

'**She's slow.' Onigiri thought with glee. 'I'll beat her easily.'**

**Cat smirked and began to activate her regalia. The inner motors of her A-T's began to vibrate at extremely high speed. The vibrations traveled through the A-T and up the straps attached to both legs. Cat focused the vibrations throughout her body and ran through the building in front of her. She chuckled when she heard the collective gasp from Ikki and the others. She watched Onigiri gape and waved as she passed him. Soon, she had the finish in sight. She shut off the regalia and dashed to the finish. **

"**Noooo!" Onigiri screamed when her finished. "My plan is ruined!"**

**Cat glared at him before turning to Ikki. **

"**I take it you're the leader of this team?" she asked. **

"**Yeah, and the best damn leader there is!" he replied enthusiastically. **

"**You anything but a good leader you shit head crow!" a new voice shouted from behind Cat. **

**She stifled a scream and turned around. The small blue haired kid was standing right behind her. He glared at her with his visible eye and returned to glowering at Ikki. **

"**How could you let this bitch beat you like this?" he growled. "I don't know why I put up with this fucking stupid team. I know the fat ass pig isn't the best on the team, but fuck, it shouldn't have been that hard to beat her!"**

**Cat had heard enough. "Fuck you! You're nothing but a god damned midget who only wears A-T's cuz they make you look taller!"**

**Her outburst earned her a swift kick from the tiny member of the team. She smirked as she activated her regalia and fell through the cement. **

"**Where the fuck did she go?" he snarled. **

**He turned when he felt a tap on his shoulder. Cat smiled and waved from behind them. **

"**You're slow." she mused. **

**Agito glared and swiftly elbowed her in the stomach. This time, Cat wasn't fast enough. She fell to the ground and groaned in pain. **

"**Ass." she coughed right before she threw up what little dinner she had eaten. **

**She wiped her mouth and glared defiantly at Agito. Agito merely scoffed as he turned away from her. **

"**Before I was interrupted, I wanted to ask you something." she said to Ikki with a groan of pain.**

"**What is it?" Ikki asked. **

"**Can I join your team?" **


	5. Change 5: A new Challenge

"Why would we let a weak ass bitch like you join our team?" Agito sneered.

Cat merely flipped him the bird and continued to stare at Ikki.

"Well?" Cat questioned, placing her hand on her hip.

"I uh, I, well, you see." Ikki stammered at a loss for words.

No one had ever asked to join his team before. He continued to stare at Cat blankly until Ringo roughly yanked him by the arm and drug him towards the rest of the group.

"Give us a second!" Ringo called to the impatient girl.

Cat nodded and immediately sat down on the sidewalk. Using her regalia for such a long period of time really tired her out. She panted in exhaustion and struggled to keep her eyes open.

'Stay awake.' she willed herself mentally, secretly wishing that they would make up their damn minds.

"Look at that pussy." Agito sneered. "She can't even stand after using her A-T's like that."

"But how does she do that?" Ringo questioned. "Normal A-T's don't make you run through solid objects."

"We don't know anything about her." Kazu said. "How do we know she's not up to something."

Ikki looked at the girl in question. She was laying on the ground breathing heavily. He could tell that her technique physically exhausted her.

"I think we should test her." Ikki told them. "She is obviously a really good rider and she would only make this team more awesome than it already is."

"Fuck that!" Agito protested. "Why would we want a weak ass bitch like her on the team?"

Ikki laughed at the ranting of the tiny fang king. "Is someone jealous?"

Agito scoffed. "No."

Suddenly, his hand moved his eye patch to his right eye. Cat watched in amusement as his killing aura disappeared completely. His personality was replaced by that of a three year old child it seemed. She watched as he turned towards her and waved spastically.

"Hi, I'm Akito!" he called to her.

Cat barely managed to return the wave. Her face was dripping with sweat and she looked like she would pass out at any given moment.

Akito turned towards the rest of the team. "I think the challenge is a good idea. Agito is just mad that she's not afraid of him. I also think that we should get to know more about her and her Air Trecks."

"So we're in agreement then?" Ikki asked his team.

The rest of the team nodded before he walked over the exhausted girl. She looked up at him and managed to stand shakily on her feet.

"We decided to challenge you to see if you're good enough to be on Kogarasumaru." he told her. "You must also tell us everything about you're A-T's."

Cat held out her hand. "Deal."

Cat woke up the next morning with a killer headache. She looked at her surrounding and gaped.

'Where the hell am I?' she thought as she managed to crawl out of the bed she was in.

Suddenly, Akito popped his head into the room. "Hi!"

Cat hissed as the loudness of his voice echoed in her head. "Not so damn loud!"

"Sorry." Akito whispered. "I brought you something for your headache."

Cat looked at the drink in his hand before grudgingly taking it. She sipped the hot liquid slowly and was surprised at how good it tasted.

"Thanks." she gushed before chugging the rest of the liquid.

Almost immediately, her head felt a lot better.

"Where am I by the way?" she asked the boy.

"The Noyamano boarding house." he replied with a smile. "After you and Ikki-kun made a deal, you passed out. He didn't want to worry your mother so we brought you here."

Cat nodded in understanding and mentally cursed herself for never having her regalia tuned.

"Everyone's in the living room waiting for you." Akito told Cat as he watched stretch tiredly.

She nodded and followed him out into the living room. She inwardly chuckled as she watched him skip happily down the hallway.

"Ikki-kun!" he cried before tackling the black haired boy to the ground.

"Get off of me!" Ikki cried as he tried to pry the small boy from his waist.

"But Ikki-kun." the smaller boy protested. "I wanna snuggle!"

Cat watched the scene and burst out into uncontrolled laughter. She fell to the ground clutching her stomach. Slowly, she sat up and wiped the tears from her eyes only to notice that Akito's eye patch was switched.

"What the fuck do you think you're laughing at, bitch?" the fang king growled.

Cat looked calmly into his golden yellow eye.

"You." she replied coolly.

Agito growled and punched her in the cheek. Her head whipped back from the force of the blow. When she turned her head back, she merely scoffed and wiped the blood away with her hand. She flipped him the bird again and managed to crawl toward Ikki.

"Sorry." she muttered, embarrassed. "I'm still weak from yesterday. And Mr. sunshine over there isn't making my recovery any better."

"Tch." Agito muttered moving as far away from Cat as possible.

"So." Cat started. "I noticed the whole team is here. What's this about?"

"It's time to fulfill your first part of the deal." Ikki told her. "Tell us everything about you're a-T's."

Cat sighed and began. "Well, my A-T's just like anyone else's. It's the regalia that make them different."

"How the fuck do you have regalia?" Agito questioned menacingly.

"I don't know how they came to be, but my older sister gave it to me when she stopped riding A-T's." she replied. "I inherited her team and her status as shadow queen of the ghost road."

"It shouldn't be possible for A-T's to make one able to go through solid objects." Ringo mused aloud.

"My sister told me once, that you have to be born with the ability to scramble your molecules. That's why the regalia are only passed on not won." Cat told Ringo. "The Shadow Regalia act as an enhancer to my abilities. The motor vibrates rapidly and travels up the straps attached to my legs. When this happens I can focus the vibrations and scramble my molecules. This causes me to become intangible. Unfortunately, since I never found a tuner before I moved, it makes me extremely exhausted when I use the regalia like that. They also have other abilities, but I'd rather show you those than explain them."

"Show me your skills then." Agito muttered boredly. "I'm tired of these goddamned explanations! They bore the fuck outta me!"

"Fine." Cat sneered in reply. "I'll make you regret ever asking me to fight you."

"That will be the challenge then." Ikki told the two fighting storm riders. "Tomorrow, Cat will have to fight Agito in order to be on the team."

"I looking forward to kicking the shit out of you." Cat growled.

"I'll make you wish you were never born when I carve my road into your flesh!" Agito shouted with wicked glee.

Cat scoffed, clearly underestimating the power of the bloody road. "In your dreams."

"Thanks for taking me in, Ikki." Cat said as she readied herself to go home. "If you hadn't carried me here, I probably would've been in worse shape than I already am."

"Actually." Ikki whispered. "Agito carried you here. He said, "If this bitch is going to die, I'm going to be the one who does it.""

Cat looked at him in surprise. "Are you sure?" she asked before heading out the door.

Ikki nodded. "Remember to be here tomorrow night at seven."

"Don't worry, I won't forget." she assured him. "I actually look forward to this challenge."

Agito watched from the shadows as Cat and Ikki talked. An evil grin graced his small face as he imagined the outcome of the battle tomorrow.

"So do I." he whispered to himself. "So do I."


	6. Change 6: A new Character

"Oh Cat!" her mother gushed as she trudged through the door. "I'm so glad you've made friends already! How was the sleepover?"

Cat looked at her mother in confusion. "Huh?"

As she pondered this, realization finally hit her. "Oh. Oh yeah. It was really fun!"

Cat's mother smiled and gently hugged her daughter. Cat stifled a whimper and hugged her mother back. As soon as the hug was finished, Cat immediately went into the smaller bathroom. She scoured the medicine cabinet for pain killers. She sighed in relief when she finally pulled out Advil.

"Thank god." she muttered before swallowing three pills with ease.

She then walked into her room and pulled her Air Trecks from her bag. She grabbed her small tool box from the corner and began removing the wheels from the base of the A-T's. She then went into her closet and pulled out a tiny black box that was hidden beneath her clothes. Inside the box, were the other half of the shadow regalia. She took the four wheels from the box and began to attach them to her A-T's. The wheels were an iridescent white color with splashes of black swirls that came out from the center of the wheels. She lightly flicked each wheel and smiled as a clear ringing sound filled her ear. These were the wheels that paired with the shadow regalia. Each of the wheels had small hollow chambers on the inside. These chambers allowed the vibrations of the motors become deadly sound waves. After about three hours, the wheels were finally attached and in perfect working order.

"Dinner!" Cat's mom called, as if she knew Cat's stomach was growling.

Cat flew from her room and practically leapt down the stairs into the kitchen. Her mouth watered slightly at the sight of food.

"Rice again?" she questioned as she looked at her mother. "You are way too addicted to that rice cooker.

Cat's mother smiled sheepishly. "It's not just rice. I made streak too."

"Medium rare?"

Cat's mother nodded. "Just how you like it."

Cat smiled at her mother and hurriedly inhaled her food, barely managing to taste the flavors. Cat patted her stomach in satisfaction when she was finished.

"Do you mind if I go for a ride?" she asked her mother.

Her mother nodded and watched with a smile as Cat strapped on her A-T's. Cat opened the door to their house and flew down the street. The wind whipped wildly at her hair as she flew through the streets. As she approached the town, she grinned wickedly and leapt onto the buildings. The scenery around her was a blur as she picked up speed. She activated her regalia and immediately fell through the roof of the building she was on. She landed on the floor with grace and continued to dash through as many buildings she could manage. As she neared the edge of the town, she collapsed in exhaustion.

"Dammit." she cried as she desperately tried to stand.

Tears of frustration mixed with the sweat the fell from her brows as she struggled to crawl towards a small oak tree. The small distance seemed like miles to Cat. The only thing keeping her going was her desire to beat Agito in their upcoming battle.

"Argh!" she cried as she slammed her fist into the tree, leaving a dent. "Why am I so damn weak?"

She collapsed in a heap at the base of the tree and sobbed uncontrollably. After what seemed like hours, she finally had the energy to stand. She sighed and skated away from the tree and towards what seemed like and abandoned house. She focused all her energy into her A-T's and leapt into the air. Quickly, she revved the motors of her A-T's which caused the wheels to rapidly spin midair. She gently touched the wheels together and smiled in satisfaction as the tell-tale ring reached her ears. She laughed in wicked glee as the frequency of the sound became too much for the old building. Cat gracefully flipped backwards and watched the building explode. Debris fell all around her as she landed on the ground.

"Well, Agito." she whispered confidently to herself. "I do believe you have met your maker."

The ride home was difficult to say the least. Every stride Cat took seemed to suck the life from her as she struggled to continue on. Her Air Trecks seemed to weigh as much as a block of lead. Finally, she managed to trudge into the door of her home. All the lights were off, which meant that Cat's mother was already asleep. Cat smiled and crawled up the stairs and into the large bathroom. She peeled her sweat drenched clothes from her body and slid into the empty tub. She turned on the water and sighed in content as the cool water slid across her aching body. She gently scrubbed all the dirt and sweat from her body and hair before climbing out and toweling off. She tiptoed into her room and changed into pajamas before crawling into bed for a much needed rest.

Cat groaned in complaint as the morning sun hit her face. She stretched and glanced at the clock. It was already noon.

"Great." Cat muttered as she climbed out of her bed.

She then trudged to her closet and proceeded to get dressed. When she was finished, she walked down the stairs only to find her mother fussing with the rice maker again.

"We just had rice last night." Cat said to her mother.

Her mother turned and looked at her. "I was watching the cooking channel and I learned how to make rice porridge. I thought we could try some for brunch."

Cat groaned and plopped herself into one of the chairs at the kitchen table. Soon, her mother was spooning her a heaping bowl of rice porridge. Cat sighed and daintily dipped her spoon into the hot mess. She put the spoon in her mouth, only to spit it out. Her face contorted as she gagged on what her mother called rice porridge.

"What the hell is this?" she choked before dashing to the sink.

She washed down the nasty taste with several glasses of water. Her mother slipped the spoon into her bowl and had just about the same reaction.

"Sorry." her mother coughed, as she too rushed toward the sink. "I must've forgotten something."

"It fine." Cat replied. "I'm not really hungry anyways."

Cat went back up to her room and looked over her Air Trecks one last time pulling out her cell phone. The buttons beeped as she dialed the desired number.

"Hello?" the voice on the other end asked.

"Maddison!" Cat screamed into the phone.

"Cat!" the voice replied. "How is my little sister doing in her new country?"

"Pretty good I guess. How did the surgery go?"

Maddison sighed sadly into the receiver. "Still no luck. I still need crutches to walk."

Cat wiped the frustrated tears from her eyes. "I'm sorry. If I was better at A-T's then I could have-."

"There was nothing you could have done." Maddison interrupted. "Those thugs still would have got me. Regardless if you were there or not. Besides, there's not much a seven year old can do against an adult."

"I guess you're right."

Maddison wiped the tears from her eyes as she continued to lie. She hated lying. Especially to her family.

'If only you knew the truth.' she thought sadly. 'Then you wouldn't blame yourself.'

"Well, the doctors are coming back so I better let you go." she said.

"Sure." Cat replied. "Good luck."

With that, Cat hung up the phone and stared blankly at her wall. She hated that her sister had to suffer like this. She remembered that day all too clearly.

_The day had started off normal. Maddison, who just turned seventeen, was proudly showing off her new A-T's to a seven year old Cat. _

"_Now I can finally attach our regalia." she told Cat. _

"_Why ours?" she asked innocently. _

"_Because someday, they'll be yours, along with the next generation of Prowess."_

_Cat smiled as she thought of herself the leader of the best team in western California. She watched in amazement as Maddison activated the regalia and dropped right through the floor. _

"_Damn." Maddison muttered as she hastily wiped the blood from her mouth before Cat saw it. _

"_That was so cool!" Cat screamed as she ran down the stairs. "You prolly had to fight a lot to get those!"_

_Maddison removed the A-T's and walked over to her younger sister. _

"_I'll tell you a little secret." she whispered in Cat's ear. "These regalia are special. You have to be born with a gift in order to use them."_

_Cat gasped and screamed, "Do I have it? Do I?"_

_Maddison laughed at her younger sister. "Of course you do silly. If I have it then you have it! Do you wanna know what the gift is?"_

_Cat spastically nodded her head and waited for the answer. _

"_You have to be able to scramble your molecules." _

_Cat's eyes grew as big as saucers when she finally understood what that meant. _

"_I have to go and meet the team now." Maddison told her. "You be good for mom now, kay?"_

_Cat nodded and watched her sister put on the A-T's and dash out the door. Little did she know, that would be the last time Maddison ever skated again. _

Cat shook her head of the bad memories and glanced at the clock. She had a little over to hours to get ready for the battle.

"I really need to stop zoning out." she muttered to herself as she prepared for the battle.


	7. Change 7: A new Realization

Cat paced anxiously around her room as she waited for it to be closer to seven.

"Ugh." she groaned as she watched the clock slowly move to six PM.

She walked over to her closet and pulled out another Prowess themed outfit. She slipped on the black short shorts and tiger striped leggings. She then put on the orange tank top with her team emblem stitched onto the back. She slipped on her black jacket and grabbed her A-T's. She walked down the stairs and found her mother once again in the kitchen.

"I'm going to meet my friends again soon." she told her mother.

"Do you want dinner first?" her mother asked.

"No, I'm not really hungry."

Her mother pouted. "You sure."

Cat nodded and slipped on her A-T's before heading out the door and onto the streets. She glanced at her wristwatch and saw she had about thirty five minutes to spare. She skated randomly about the town before she realized she had no idea where the Noyamano boarding house was. She groaned and continued to search in vein.

"Fuck!" Agito complained. "Where the hell is she?"

"Maybe she got lost?" Kazu offered, quietly.

"How the hell would she get lost? She obviously got home from here, dumbass." Agito sneered in reply.

"Dammit!" Cat screamed as she glanced at her watch.

It was now six fifty-five. She was never going to find the place in time.

"The stupid midget is going to think I wussed out." Cat muttered to herself.

Finally, she realized she was near the house when she heard Agito's ranting.

"God damn woman!" he snarled. "Make me get all excited to cut up that pretty flesh of hers!"

Cat smiled as she heard this. She sped towards the yelling and skated to the front yard.

"Aww." she teased. "Did you just call me pretty?"

Agito looked at her in surprise and then looked away, realizing what he had said. "Tch. Fuck."

Cat laughed at the awkwardness of the tiny Fang king. She walked over to him and ruffled his hair. "You're embarrassed."

Agito growled and hastily kicked the girl away from him. "Don't fucking touch me, bitch!"

Cat smiled, still underestimating the power in Agito's small body. "Are you ready to fight?"

Agito smirked in reply.

"Follow us." Ikki said to Cat as he and the rest of Kogarasumaru took off down the street.

Soon, they reached an abandoned warehouse where Cat imagined the battle would take place.

"Only one rule." Ikki whispered menacingly. "No killing each other."

Cat nodded and got into a fighting position. She watched as Agito adjusted the straps on his pants. When he was finished, he looked at Cat evilly. She shuddered at the pressure his aura was exerting. The immense lust for blood almost overwhelmed her. She glared at him, ignoring the aura around her.

"GO!" Ikki yelled.

With that, Cat immediately leapt into the air. She had to time this perfectly, otherwise, she would plummet to the ground. She flipped backwards and rapidly made her wheels spin. Instead of waiting for them to reach Agito's frequency, she tapped her feet together and then pushed her feet out. This action, caused several sound waves to speed towards Agito. Agito smirked as he noticed a shimmering in the air as it sped towards him. Agito countered the waves with a wave of his own: The Bloody Fang. Cat gaped as she saw her sound waves dissipate harmlessly around her opponent.

"What the hell." she gasped out loud as she landed gracefully on the ground.

Agito took her momentary distraction as the perfect chance to attack his prey. Cat hissed in pain as she felt the Agito's hooks latch deeply into her skin. Agito smiled as the hooks ripped themselves free of her skin, causing blood to be splattered everywhere.

"Bastard." Cat muttered as she sped away from him. "That trick won't fool me again. I promise."

Cat leaped into the air and aimed a kick right at Agito's head. She smiled as Agito fell right into her trap. She activated her regalia and focused it into her right leg. Her kick went right through Agito. She forced the momentum into her hands and used her other leg to trip the fang king. She then flipped onto his stomach and forced a tiny sound wave from her A-T's. Agito gasped in pain as the wave coursed painfully through his insides.

"Annoying bitch!" he growled. "Eat this!"

His quick movement caused Cat to lose her balance. As she stumbled, Agito flipped back onto his feet and launched another fang at her. Her eyes widened as she quickly became intangible. Unfortunately, she wasn't fast enough. The fang caught her straight in the stomach before, slowly passing through her as her molecules scrambled. She fell to the ground and clutched her stomach in pain. Slowly, she stood up and wiped the blood from her mouth onto her sleeve. She glared at Agito before increasing her speed and disappearing in a flash. What she didn't notice, was that the Fang King had already figured out her next move. He leapt into the air and smirked as he caught Cat by the ankle with the straps on his left leg. Cat cried out in pain as she was flung to the side. Agito then began to skillfully kick her with his right leg.

"Fucking weakling!" he growled. "A bitch like you doesn't have the strength to be on this damn team!"

Tears of pain and frustration spilled from Cat's eyes as the words cut her as deeply as Agito's hooks. She clenched her teeth and hastily grabbed the straps with her hands.

"Fuck you." she whimpered, shifting her weight and causing the two storm riders to crash into the cement floor.

Cat coughed up more blood as she struggled to her feet. She gasped when she felt a hand tighten on her neck.

"You underestimated me, didn't you?" Agito whispered menacingly.

Cat lowered her eyes to the ground in shame. He was right.

"I figured a stupid bitch like you would do that." Agito scoffed as he threw a barely breathing Cat onto the ground.

Cat's chest heaved as it struggled to keep up with her defiant mind. Her body was already at it's limit. Still, she pushed herself onto her feet and ignored the complaints from her body.

"It's true that I underestimated you a little." she mused. "I guess it's because you're so damn short. I mean, where does a midget like you store all that strength."

Agito turned and growled at the girl in reply.

"But you underestimated me too." she continued. "It took me a while, but I can finally hear you. Your frequency, that is."

With that, she flipped into the air and made her wheels rapidly spin. The group looked on in confusion until they noticed Agito begin to cover his ears in pain.

"Shit!" he screamed, clutching his head. "What the fuck are you doing to me?"

Cat laughed as she watched the boy who had been condescending her writhe on the ground. Agito angrily punched the floor as he tried to get the ringing out of his ears. It felt as if every cell in his body was screaming in agony. He staggered onto his feet, still clutching his head. Bleary eyed, he hastily shot a fang at his opponent. As it sped toward her, she became intangible and went right through it. Unfortunately, she had to stop using the resonance in order to do this. Agito gasped and panted as the effects of her attack finally began to subside. He was mad now.

"You bitch!" he growled as he leapt into the air and sped toward her.

Wide eyed, Cat tried to maneuver away from him. She winced as the hooks once again latched onto her skin.

'I don't have enough energy left to do anything.' she thought sadly as Agito began to kick her again.

"Damn bitch!" he screamed as his A-T's collided with every part of Cat's body. "Lowly worm! Using dirty tricks to beat your opponent! You're nothing but a fucking coward!"

With that last exclamation, he landed a powerful kick to her stomach. The impact caused her to fly from the air and crash painfully into the ground.

Cat gasped as the wind was forced from her body. She looked with dead eyes as Agito landed lightly beside her. Slowly, she sat up and spit blood from her mouth.

"Bastard." she muttered weakly before falling unconscious.

"Fuck. I think I killed her." Agito mused as he tapped her lightly with his foot.

The rest of the group crowded around the beaten storm rider. Ikki pushed the rest of the team back and put on a serious face.

"I'll be the judge of that." he said in a perverted tone as he reached for her private areas.

Ringo, who was watching from the shadows, furiously sprinted toward the perverted crow.

"Stop that!" Ringo yelled in a matronly tone as her fist connected with his face.

While the rest of the group was distracted by Ikki's stupidity, Agito was listening to the unconscious storm rider's shallow breathing.

"Fuck." he whispered as he lifted the girl into his arms.

'I held nothing back and she's still breathing.' he thought to his other half.

'_She's not as weak as you think she is.' Akito replied. _

Agito looked from his team to the girl in his arms as he skated toward the boarding house.

"Fuck." he muttered to himself. "What the hell am I doing?"


	8. Change 8: A new Loss

Cat felt as if her whole body was on fire. She hadn't been in this much pain since her first battle as a storm rider. She wrinkled her nose as the smell of blood and sweat wafted around her. 'Where the hell is that coming from?' she thought as she struggled to open her eyes.

"Don't struggle too much, Cat-chan. You took quite a beating today." a voice said from right beside her.

She stiffened when she remembered who that voice belonged to. Surprisingly, it sounded much more gentle and caring than she remembered.

"Come back for round two?" she said in cynical tone. "Unfortunately it's going to have to wait. I don't even have the strength to open my eyes."

A twinkling laughter filled the room around her. "Cat-chan, I'm flattered you think I'm as terrifying as Agito-kun, but I'm his other half Akito."

Cat inwardly sighed in relief. At least she didn't have to worry about being killed in her sleep now. "Tell me Akito-kun, where am I?"

"You're back at the Noyamano boarding house. I let you stay in my room."

Cat immediately began to struggle to move. "I-I feel terrible taking up your bed."

Slowly she opened her eyes and winced at the bright lights. She groaned as she sat up. Pain coursed through every nerve in her body as she moved. Ignoring the pain, she rubbed her eyes and examined her surroundings.

"Thank you for letting me use your bed, Akito, but I'm fine now." she said as she stood up from the bed.

Almost immediately, she regretted her decision. Her vision swam with black dots as vertigo gripped her. She gasped as she struggled to stay standing. She stood still for a moment and let her vision return to normal before trying to move again.

"I really think you should stay and rest." Akito advised. "Agito-kun really did some damage to you."

Cat scoffed and ignored his advice. She turned to him, a defiant fire in her eye.

"Ha!" she laughed. "That runt, damage me? He's just lucky he landed a hit."

Akito looked on in terror as his arm slowly moved his eye patch to his left eye.

"Damn bitch." Agito sneered. "Why don't you say that to my face."

"I just did, Akito." Cat replied casually.

Cat's eyes widened slightly when she noticed that Agito had now taken over. "Oops. I thought you couldn't hear anything when….."

She trailed off as she noticed Agito's glare intensify. "Are you stupid or do you just act that way?"

Cat growled and put her hands on her hips in defiance. "Hey! It was a perfectly reasonable assumption! I mean it's not like I know a lot of people with crazy split personalities."

"Whatever." Agito scoffed. "You can get your stupid ass out of my room now."

"You didn't even have to tell me, runt." Cat said as she marched from the fang king's room.

Agito merely glared at the girl and slammed the door behind her. Cat stuck her tongue out at the door and went in search of the others. She found the leader of Kogarasumaru at the table stuffing his face. He looked up happily when he saw her approach.

"Mmmphf hey Catff." he said with a mouthful of food.

Cat looked in his direction and winced. His face was covered in food remnants. "Hey Ikki. Thanks for ruining my appetite."

Ikki looked away sheepishly and struggled to swallow the massive amount of food in his mouth. After much struggle and choking, Ikki finally managed to do it.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

Cat winced as she sat down beside him. "I'm fine. Bastard probably broke a few ribs, but I'll be okay."

"You're up and walking with broken ribs?" Ikki exclaimed, surprised.

"I've had worse." Cat replied.

"So, do I get to be on the team or what?" she asked, snapping Ikki out of his trance.

"Huh? Well, yeah. You managed to live after getting beat by Agito. And he didn't even hold back." Ikki told her.

Cat smiled. "Really?"

Ikki nodded in reply. Cat looked at Ikki, watching his face go from happy to serious.

"But don't think we're going to go easy on you." he told her. "Just because you're strong doesn't mean you have a permanent spot on the team. This is just a trial run."

Cat nodded in agreement. "If I was in your position, I wouldn't just throw someone I barely knew on the team either. I promise I'll work hard and not let you down."

She winced as she got up and started for the door. "My mom'll be worried about me. Plus we have school tomorrow. Later."

Cat activated her Air Trecks and dashed out into the afternoon air. She ignored the dull throbbing in her ribs and continued toward her home.

'I really need to find a good tuner before these damn regalia kill me.' she thought as she skated. 'Then I really will be able to kick that runts ass.'

After thinking of that, she immediately felt bad. If he and Akito shared the same body, then didn't that mean Akito also got hurt? Cat made a mental note to ask one of them sometime. Soon, her house was finally in view. Stripping off her A-T's she dashed up the stairs and into the large bathroom. Once again she peeled off her dirty clothes and filled the tub with steaming water. She winced when she looked at herself in the mirror. A huge purple and blue bruise covered her entire left ribcage. Biting her lip, she lightly touched the bruise. Her ribs were indeed broken.

'I'll have to get some ice on that.' she mused. 'I need to get the swelling down.'

She examined the other damages on her body. Four deep cuts graced her arms and legs from where the hooks had pierced her. It looked as if she had been attacked by a shark. She smiled at the thought. Agito; the tiny shark. Tears streamed from her eyes as she continued to laugh. A sharp pain caused her to immediately stop. Cursing her ribs, she climbed into the tub and closed her eyes, letting the water wash away the pain. After what seemed like hours, she finally got out of the bath after scrubbing herself clean.

'Weird.' she thought. 'I figured mom would notice I was here or something.'

After she dried off and dressed in cotton shorts and a comfy shirt, she walked around the house in search of her mother. Cat stiffened at the sound of sobbing coming from her mother's room.

"Mom?" Cat called softly as she approached the room. "Are you in there?"

Immediately, the sobs stopped. Cat opened the door and quietly walked in.

"Where have you been?" Cat's mother asked in a dead voice.

"I was at my friends house. I thought I told you that." she replied carefully.

"You had me worried sick. I will not have my daughter gone all the time."

"I told you where I was." Cat said through clenched teeth.

She was beginning to get angry now. What had brought this on?

"What happened?" she asked her mother. "You're not being yourself."

Cat's mother looked at her, tears falling freely down her cheeks. "Your sister had a bad reaction to her new medicine. She went into shock and….and…"

Her mother broke off into uncontrolled sobs of hysteria. Cat shook her mother, as if that would force the answer from her.

"What!" she screamed. "And what?"

"She didn't make it. Maddison died of a shock induced heart attack."

Cat's world seemed to stop completely. "No. You're lying."

Cat ignored her mothers' cries of protest and dashed out of the room into her own. Reaching for her cell-phone, she dialed her sister's number.

"Hello?" she asked into the receiver.

"Well, if it isn't the new face of Prowess. Well should I say old new face. How is Japan, kitten?" a sickly sweet voice replied.

"Who the hell is this?" Cat growled.

"Let's just say I'm an old friend of your sisters."

"Why do you have Maddi's phone?"

"I took it after I paid her a little visit." the voice laughed.

Cat winced at the tinkling laughter. Somehow, it seemed dark and conniving. "What are you hiding? There is a hidden meaning to that sentence."

"You're not as dumb as I thought." the voice replied. "You're right. Let's just say that my visit to your sister was shocking to her."

Cat growled into the phone as she caught the meaning of that. "You little bitch. I'll kill you."

The girl on the other end was still laughing at her own joke. "Well, I'd like to see you try. In fact me and my dear friend are going to pay you a visit real soon. You have something of ours."

"I'll be waiting then." Cat said though clenched teeth.

"Right." the girl replied sarcastically. "I bet you will be. I have to go now, but it has been fun talking to dear Maddi's little sister. Tootles."

Cat was just about to hang up when the girl's voice rang out once again. "Oh, and don't tell anyone of this little chat or we will kill your mother."

With that, the phone went dead.

"Well Lilith," Caspian asked his twin. "Did everything go as planned."

A sly fox grin graced Lilith's face as she replied. "She will fall right into our trap."


	9. Change 9: A new Discovery

Cat slammed her hand on her desk. "That bitch! She'll pay!"

Tears fell silently from her eyes as she contemplated the situation. Cat needed to find out who had killed her sister. She would find out even if she died in the process.

"Cat?" her mother called weakly from her room. "Are you alright? I heard a crash."

"Yeah!" she called back. "I'm fine. I just slipped."

Cat sighed and went down the stairs and into the kitchen. She rummaged through the freezer until she found several large ice packs. Cat grabbed two of them and wrapped them tightly in dishcloths. Once she got back into her room, she slipped of her clean shirt and placed the ice onto her broken ribs. Hissing in pain, she scooted her rolling chair over to her right Air Trek and picked it up. She pulled the memory stick from the heel of it and then plugged it into her computer. All of the data from Prowess appeared on her screen. She scrolled through all the new member data until she came to the old members. She figured that it had to be someone who used to be on the team because they seemed to know Maddison well. Two members in particular caught her attention: Lilith and Caspian Thomas. Cat mentally slapped herself in the face.

"How could I be so dumb?" she grumbled.

Of course it was Lilith who had answered the phone. She and her brother were the two responsible for the destruction of the old Prowess. Immediately, Cat stared at the screen for hours, trying to absorb everything she could about the traitorous twins. Several hours later, Cat wiped the drool from her mouth and took some aspirin for her ribs. She looked at the clock. It was about twenty minutes after two in the morning. Cat groaned and awkwardly plopped herself on her bed and let sleep claim her.

Cat awoke to a gentle push on her shoulder.

"Own." she muttered sleepily. "What?"

"I just wanted to let you know that I'll be taking you to school today. I called off work so I can prepare…things…." her mother said softly.

Cat slowly slid out of bed and proceeded to get ready for school. She shoved her vivid orange hair into a pony and walked down the stairs. She put her A-T's into her bag and followed her mother out the door.

"Have a good day." her mother called when they finally reached the school.

Cat nodded once and then headed into the Higachu junior high. Lunch was very awkward for the newest member of Kogarasumaru. She sat quietly near the fence on the roof and barely touched her sandwich.

"Are you alright?" Ringo asked quietly.

"Huh?" Cat looked up at the girl before replying. "Yeah, I'm…great."

Ringo looked skeptical. "Don't lie to me. I know there's something bothering you. I can see it in your face and you look like you've been crying."

Cat laughed at the girl. "Ha! Me? Cry? Demons don't cry."

Ringo sighed and sat down next to Cat. "Look, you can tell me what's wrong. Maybe I can help."

"You can't help." Cat growled. "It's my problem and I can handle it myself."

With that, she stormed off down the stairs. She quietly slipped into her empty classroom in the hopes of escaping the nosey Ringo. She slipped into her seat and didn't even notice the person in the desk next to her.

"Fuck." The voice of Agito growled. "Damn bitch, how dare you interrupt my nap."

Cat jumped slightly but quickly recovered.

"Sorry." she replied with a fox-like grin. "I didn't see you there."

"Is that a short joke?" Agito asked as he glared.

"I don't know, runt, is it?" she replied.

Agito's glare deepened. He cracked his knuckles menacingly. "Was your last beating not good enough for you, stupid bitch?"

Cat sighed and completely ignored the fuming fang king. "I really don't have the time or the energy to deal with your _short _temper, Agito."

She had emphasized the word short on purpose. The reaction that she got from Agito was not surprising. In fact, she had expected the punch on the side of her cheek. Wiping the blood from her mouth, she turned to face Agito. The look in her eyes took him by surprise.

'What is that look?' he asked his other half. 'And why the hell does it look so familiar?'

'That is the same look I had when you found me.' Akito replied sadly. 'It is the look of utter defeat.'

"That pain is nothing compared to what I am feeling now." she whispered quietly.

She fought hard to hold back the tears that threatened to fall, but that was a battle she was losing.

"Fuck." she muttered, stealing the fang king's trademark phrase.

What happened next surprised both the storm riders. Agito found his hand gently wiping the tears from her cheeks. Cat looked, wide eyed, at Agito. When his eye met hers, she quickly lowered her gaze, struggling to hide the blush that was creeping across her face. As soon as Agito realized what he was doing, he swiped his hand away.

"Tch." he muttered. "The only one allowed to make you cry is me when I am beating the shit out of you."

Cat was speechless. The action had sucked any sarcastic remark she had in her arsenal away. She nodded uncomprehendingly as she was still in shock. She was knocked out of her stupor by the sound of the bell and everyone filing back into the classroom.

"Hey Cat." Ikki said. "Where were you at lunch? We were discussing ass kicking moves to practice for our next battle."

Cat looked away as she replied. "Sorry. You can fill me in tonight at practice."

Ikki nodded and then turned toward Agito to yell at him for also not being there. Agito ignored Ikki for the most part, as he was lost in his own thoughts.

'What the hell was I thinking?' he thought as he replayed the incident in his mind repeatedly.

Akito laughed at his other half's confusion. "You liiikkkkeeeee her.' he teased.

'Fuck you!' Agito yelled in his head. 'I do not! She is a stupid weakling bitch girl who only got on this shitty team out of pure luck!'

'You know that's not true.' Akito replied. 'Her regalia are unlike anything we've ever dealt with. She could be very dangerous when they are fully activated.'

'What the fuck are you talking about?' Agito asked.

'Her regalia are only working at about 76% right now.' his other half said. 'They are barely operational and just using them are endangering both her body and her air treks.'

"Agito!" Ikki screamed at the distracted teen.

"What the fuck do you want, shit head crow!" he screamed back.

Agito was pissed he was knocked out of his conversation.

'Don't worry.' Akito told him. "We'll finish the conversation later. Just don't do anything to my Ikki-kuuun.'

Agito received a smack on the back of the head. "You were ignoring your great leader!" Ikki said in a serious tone. "Punishment: Extra laps at practice tonight followed by super secret death training."

"Shut the fuck up." Agito growled, turning away from Ikki.

As soon as school let out, Cat followed the others to the school track.

"We're doing speed training tonight." Ikki told them all. "The slowest person will have to eat my special miso soup of doom!"

Everyone looked at the concoction in disgust. The soup smelled like rotten eggs and Cat wasn't sure if the so-called noodles were actually noodles. They looked suspiciously like worms.

"Hell no!" Kazu yelled. "I'm the slowest person on the team and I am not eating that!"

"Then don't lose!" Ikki yelled back to his friend.

Cat seriously doubted that Kazu was the slowest member. From the looks of his Air Treks, Cat judged that he was the only one who trained day in and day out.

"We are separating into groups of loser of each group will have to race each other to determine the true slowest member." Ikki said. "The first group to race is me, Onigiri, and Kazu."

Cat watched in amusement as the three took their places on the track. Ringo stood in the middle of them all. She would act as the referee.

"Go!" she shouted.

The three took off around the track. So far, it looked like Ikki would win seeing as he was the farthest ahead. Suddenly, Kazu took off with a burst of speed. He effortlessly passed Ikki and took the lead.

"I can't believe you beat me." Ikki gasped when the race was over.

Kazu just laughed sheepishly at his friend. It looked like all that extra training was finally paying off.

"Next group!" Ikki called. "Cat, Agito, and Buccha!"

Just before they were about to take off, a high childish voice interrupted.

"Sorry to interrupt, kiddies!" the voice called. "But your newest member has something I need!"

Cat instantly recognized the voice. She charged toward the source of the voice.

"You fucking bitch!" Cat screamed at the voice. "I'm going to kill you!"

Lilith laughed as she revealed herself. She appeared on the roof of the school.

"I'd like to see you try, kitten." she teased.

Cat growled and disappeared into the shadow of the flagpole. She reappeared inches from Lilith's face and managed to land a forceful kick on the older blonde. The kick sent Lilith flying to the other side of the roof.

She stood up and wiped the blood from her cheek. "That's a new trick."

Cat laughed before replying. "Like it? I invented it myself. I call it shadow jumping."

Lilith glared before changing her demeanor completely. She flipped her ponytail off her shoulder and charged toward Cat. The blonde jumped into the air and managed to clip Cat on the shoulder.

"What the hell?" Cat gasped as she felt blood run down the spot Lilith had touched.

Lilith smiled childishly, revealing hidden blades that appeared through her long sleeve black jacket. Cat glared and skated backwards toward the other edge of the roof. She leapt from the building and prepared to send a shockwave toward Lilith.

"Silly girl." Lilith cackled. "I already know that trick."

Cat gasped as the blonde avoided the attack with ease.

"Give me the shadow regalia." Lilith whispered in Cat's ear before kicking the poor girl to the ground.

The rest of Kogarasumaru stared in shock. Meanwhile, Cat struggled to crawl out of the crater she had created. She gasped in pain as she felt the familiar throbbing in her ribs. Blood from her shoulder was now seeping heavily into her t-shirt. She managed to get on her feet and charge Lilith again. Lilith aimed a punch for Cat's head but was surprised when the girl sunk quickly into the ground. She reappeared behind Lilith once again. This time she jumped into the air and landed a spinning kick on Lilith's head.

"Bitch." Lilith muttered as she got back up as if nothing had happened.

'This girl is strong.' Agito mused as he watched the battle unfold.

Cat barely managed to dodge the blades in Lilith's sleeves. She was being volleyed with speed attacks from the graceful villain. Every move Lilith made had the precision of a dancer. Lilith smiled. The former Prowess leader was falling right into her trap.

"Fuck." Cat growled as she avoided another punch.

This time, Lilith changed it up a bit. She stopped her volley of punches and swept Cat's feet out from under her with a low kick. While Cat was down, Lilith planted another kick just below Cat's ribcage. Cat gasped as a new pain coursed through her body. She gripped where the kick landed and saw blood seeping through her fingers.

'Shit. She has hidden foot blades too.' Cat thought as she struggled to get up.

Tears streamed from her eyes as she felt her strength draining. She clenched her teeth and ignored the pain.

"Just give up and hand over the regalia, kitten." Lilith laughed. "You can't beat me."

"Shut your mouth!" Cat screamed defiantly. "I will never lose to the bitch that killed my sister!"

Lilith sighed. Now she was starting to get pissed off. She hated it when her prey just didn't know how to lay there and die quietly. She turned to the rest of Cat's team.

"Oh, she didn't tell you did she?" Lilith laughed. "Judging from all of your faces, you had no idea."

Ikki was mad now. He hated to see team members in trouble. He made a move to attack Lilith but was stopped by Agito.

"This is not our fight, shit head." he growled. "We'll intervene when that weak bitch asks us to."

Ikki nodded in understanding. "Fine."

Cat took this opportunity to attack Lilith again from behind. She vibrated her molecules and momentarily became intangible. She reached her hand into Lilith's stomach and squeezed. Lilith gasped in surprise and began to cough up blood.

Wide eyed, she gargled, "What…what are you d-doing to me?"

She struggled to free herself, but quickly realized that her struggling only hurt her more.

"You killed my sister." Cat whispered menacingly into Lilith's small ear. "I'm just returning the favor."

Just before she was about to give the finishing blow, strong hands ripped her away from Lilith. Cat was thrown into the air and landed ungracefully in front of her team. The figure was cloaked from head to toe in black, but Cat guessed that the figure was probably Lilith's twin, Caspian. The figure picked up the unconscious Lilith and dashed off into the twilight.

"Who the hell were they?" Ikki questioned.

Cat sighed before staggering to her feet. "It's a long story."

Ikki looked at his new teammate with a deadly serious shine in his eyes. "We've got time."


	10. Change 10: A new Plan

Ikki and Kazu slowly helped the shadow queen to her feet.

"You should get that wound on your ribs looked at." Ringo said in a worried tone as she watched blood continue to flow freely from it.

"I'm…fine." Cat whispered hoarsely. "Anyone got any water?"

Surprisingly, Agito was the first to hand her a bottle. A smirk was plastered on Cat's face as she thought of something smart to say. Agito caught the look and glared.

"Stupid woman." he muttered.

"What was that?" Cat asked smugly. "I didn't quite catch that."

Agito growled and sent another glare toward the injured girl.

"Damn ignorant woman!" Agito screamed. "I was about to say that I might have been wrong about you being a weak bitch, but fuck that! You're too damn annoying to deserve a fucking compliment!"

Cat just looked at him speechless. Even a compliment hidden by insults is still a compliment in her book. She looked toward the ground, her bangs falling in her eyes.

"I'm sorry." she whispered, defeated. "I'll just be going now."

With that, she slowly staggered to her feet and began to limp away. She gasped in surprise as she felt many hands grab her arm and clasp tightly. She almost let out a squeal of disgust when she felt a hand brush past her thigh.

'Damn pig.' she thought angrily to herself.

Abruptly, she turned and kicked said pig in the face.

"Keep your damn perverted hands offa me!" she screamed. "This is a serious moment and you fucking ruined it!"

Ikki, Kazu, and Buccha watched as Onigiri was launched into orbit by the kick. Right at that moment, they all secretly vowed to never attempt to touch Cat inappropriately ever again. Lest they suffer the same fate as the pig. Ikki quickly returned to serious mode. He took Cat's hands in his own and looked straight into her eyes.

"I just want you to know something." he began. "You are a member of this team now which means that you are not alone in this. Whatever this is, we are all here to help you. Now explain what the hell just happened so Kogarasumaru can kick some ass!"

Cat smiled and began to explain. "My sister, Maddison, used to be the leader of Prowess back when I was little. There was an incident though, shortly after my sister began using the shadow regalia. Two of the members thought they could use the regalia to become very powerful in the Air Trek world. Lilith, the one I was fighting, convinced the rest of the team to turn on Maddison. She told them that the regalia were going to be used against them. They believed it and attacked my sister. They managed to get the regalia from my sister and give it to Lilith. After this happened, Maddison went and found Lilith. They got into a fight and eventually, my sister won. Just as she was about to get away, Lilith's twin, Caspian appeared. He and his gang beat my sister to the point of where she was almost dead. Maddi managed to protect the regalia from the twins. Lilith and Caspian had to leave because the cops were coming."

Tears began to fall from Cat's eyes as she continued. "I guess now they came to finish the job that they couldn't complete back then. Lilith killed my sister last night."

The rest of the group was speechless. They had never dealt with anything like this before and were unsure of what to do. Agito, once again, surprised everyone by his actions.

"Fuck those weaklings." he growled. "I'll just have to go beat the shit out of them."

"Why?" Cat whispered.

A cocky smirk was plastered on his face as he replied. "I told you I was the only one allowed to make you cry. "

Cat smiled weakly at her new team. "Thank you guys so much. You have no idea how much this means to me."

"You've failed me for the last time, Lilith." Sullivan growled. "I'm tired of looking like an idiot."

Lilith cowered at the tall man before her.

"I'm sorry." she gasped. "Just give us one more chance."

Sullivan was losing his temper. He slammed his fist onto his desk as he exclaimed, "I'm tired of looking like a fool in this corporation! I want results and I want them now! No more excuses, I am giving you one last chance! If you fail me this time, there will be no escaping my wrath!"

Lilith cringed as Sullivan continued to rant. She squeaked as several objects were thrown toward her.

"Get out of my office now!" Sullivan yelled. "You disgust me!"

Lilith quickly ran out of the room and went to search for her twin. Sullivan gasped as he quickly took two puffs of his inhaler.

"Damn asthma." he gasped in a choked whisper.

"Sister, calm yourself." Caspian told her when he saw her running through the halls of Black Bishop.

"I Won't calm myself!" she screamed in reply. "I will not let that bastard get the best of us! We are superior! We deserve everything that we lacked in childhood."

Caspian slowly wrapped his sister in a hug, as she began to cry bitterly. He gave the best smile he could manage when his sister looked up at him.

"We will get what we deserve." he whispered as he wiped the remaining tears from Lilith's eyes. "Even if we have to betray this organization."

Lilith looked up at Caspian in horror. She couldn't even conceive the wrath they would face if Sullivan ever found them after a betrayal.

"Brother, we cannot." she quipped. "I will not die in order to achieve your stupid plan. If Sullivan ever found out, we could both be killed."

"You would rather Sullivan take all the glory when we have been doing his dirty work all along?" Caspian asked.

Lilith pondered this for a moment. "Well no, but still."

Caspian was becoming angry now.

"What are you scared of, Lilith?" he roared. "When did you become this weak? I mean you couldn't even defeat that dumb kid."

Caspian was silenced from his rant by a sharp slap to the face. Lilith winced, as she too was affected by her action.

"Do not speak to me like that!" she cried as guilty tears began to fall. "I didn't mean to hit you, Caspian, it's just you made me so angry."

Caspian looked down in shame. "I'm sorry too."

He grabbed his twins hand and began to lead her down the hallway. "Let's go home now sister."

Agito growled in frustration. He couldn't understand why he acted the way he did around the new member.

"Fuck." he muttered bitterly as he sped through the night air.

He figured a nice ride would clear his head. Secretly, he hoped that there would be prey also roaming the night. A wicked smile crossed his face as he saw the two that had attacked Cat earlier. He adjusted the orange straps on his legs and prepared for his attack.

'Do you really think this is a good idea?' Akito asked his more violent half.

'I really don't give a shit whether it is or not.' Agito replied.

He felt Akito sigh in defeat within him. Agito took that as permission to attack and did just that.

"Brother!" Lilith screamed as she watched Caspian get dragged into a nearby alley.

She quickly adjusted her Air Treks and sped into the alley.

"Get your inferior hand off my brother!" she screamed as she launched a volley of attacks at the fang king.

Agito laughed as he easily avoided every kick. He retaliated with a kick of his own that sent the tiny blonde into the wall behind her.

"Take that fucking weakling!" he laughed as he watched her struggle to get up.

He was so distracted by his victory over the girl, that he did not see the other twin come up behind him. Caspian clasped both hands together and brought them down upon Agito's head. Almost immediately, Agito felt a darkness creep into his vision.

"Dammit." was the last thing he muttered before he fell into a blissful nothingness.

Sullivan smiled in wicked glee as he watched the defeat of the fang king. This was exactly the break he needed to achieve his plan.

"Well done." he praised as he walked toward the twins. "I seem to have been mistaken earlier. I am sure now that my faith was well put in both of you."

Caspian smiled as he went to help his sister out of the rubble around her.

"What do we do with him?" Caspian asked.

"Bring him inside, Caspian." Sullivan instructed. "As for you Lilith, I need you to pay a visit to our little kitten."

Sullivan smiled as he watched Lilith take off into the night. It wouldn't be long now before the Tigress would fall right into his clutches.


	11. Change 11: A new Bait

"Has anyone seen Agito?" Ikki asked later that night.

"Yeah, that's strange." Ringo mused. "Usually Akito is trying to glomp Ikki by now."

Ikki huffed and turned away in embarrassment. "Shut up."

Cat panted as she skated toward her house. The wound on her ribs had opened and was seeping blood again.

"Dammit." she muttered as she staggered on.

The world seemed to tilt as Cat continued down the street. Finally, Cat gave up the pointless struggle and collapsed onto the sidewalk. At this hour, no one would be around to find her. A callous laugh escaped her lips as she waited for the inevitable.

'I'm sorry Maddi.' she thought sadly. 'I wasn't able to avenge you after all.'

Slowly, Cat closed her eyes and waited for death to take her. Lilith watched as the demon tigress collapsed. She was torn between just killing her and doing what Sullivan had said.

"Dammit." Lilith growled as she picked up the fallen girl and took off into the night.

Just before Lilith dropped Cat off at the hospital, she removed Cat's phone and placed it into her own pocket.

"Have fun, kitten." Lilith whispered impishly as she dropped the girl rather unceremoniously onto a gurney.

Lilith searched Cat's phone for Ikki's number. As soon as she found it, she quickly dialed.

"Cat?" Ikki asked into the phone. "I was just about to call you."

"I'm afraid Cat had a little accident." Lilith replied. "It's a shame visiting hours are over."

Ikki growled into the phone as he paced his room. "What have you done to her!"

"I think you know that answer little boy. You did see our fight did you not?"

"What did you do to her?"

"If anything, I did her a favor." Lilith replied casually. "She was the one who almost died on the sidewalk. I merely placed her in a hospital. I think the one you should be really worried about is the angry midget on your team."

'That idiot!' Ikki swore in his head. "What did you do to him?"

"He was stupid enough to think he could beat my brother and me. The fool. Someone as lowly as him had no right to think such a thing so we took him."

Lilith laughed as she heard Ikki become more and more frustrated.

"If you want him, wait until Kitten gets better and then we'll talk." Lilith said before quickly hanging up the phone.

Cat groaned as white light clouded her vision. She quickly sat up as she realized she was not at home.

"Where the hell am I?" she asked out loud.

The white walls and smell of disinfectant quickly informed her that she was in a hospital. Just as she was about to climb out of bed, a nurse came in and quickly stopped Cat from doing so.

"You are in no condition to be up and moving around." the nurse scolded. "You need to stay in bed and rest."

"Fuck that." Cat fumed, becoming angry. "I have things I need to do and staying here is not one of them."

The nurse gaped at Cat's blatant disrespect, but Cat simply ignored her as she searched the room for her skates. She found them under her bed and put them on.

"Thanks for fixing me up." Cat stated as she casually opened the window and jumped out.

Cat lifted up her shirt as soon as she was on the ground and smiled. The cut that Lilith had given her went all the way down her side in a jagged line. It would leave a beautiful scar when it had healed properly. Luckily, for the Shadow Queen, having the ability to scramble molecules also made her a fast healer. She would be back to normal in about a week or so.

"Where is my phone?" she asked as she frantically searched her pockets for the small device.

Deciding not to worry about it, she sped off in the direction of Ikki's house.

Akito whined as he wiggled in the chair he was tightly bound to.

"Pwease let me out." he pleaded to Caspian. "I really really REALLY have to use the potty."

"Pffft." Caspian scoffed. "Like I'm really gonna believe that. You just wanna escape."

Tears began to fall from Akito's eyes as he realized that this man was not going to let him relieve himself.

"I promise I won't do anything. I just hafta pee." Akito cried. "Please!"

Caspian looked at the sobbing boy before him. He was not going to clean up after this boy.

"Fine." Caspian sighed as he began to untie Akito.

Akito stopped crying as he was led in the direction of the bathrooms. He smiled evilly to himself as Caspian was falling right for his plan. When they reached the bathroom, Akito quickly scurried inside and locked the stall behind him.

"Hey!" Caspian yelled. "You do not need a stall if you only have to pee."

"I lied." Akito replied. "Sowwy."

Caspian quickly walked out of the bathroom with a disgusted look on his face. He decided to stand in front of the door instead of standing inside it.

'_Agito?' Akito asked. 'You have to wake up!'_

Akito sighed. His other half wouldn't be able to save him this time. He looked at the ceiling and smiled when he saw the vent shaft. With quick hands, he began to undo the latches and scurry inside. Twenty minutes had passed before Caspian came into the bathroom to see what was taking so long. Swear words tainted his lips as he stared at the open vent shaft.

"That stupid little punk." Caspian muttered to himself as he stormed out of the restroom.

By the time Caspian's muscle-headed brain even began to formulate a plan, Akito was already out into the hallway. He clambered out of the tiny space and sped off down the hall. Unfortunately, for him, Caspian wasn't the only lackey guarding the place. As soon as one of the suited men saw Akito, he began to fire the machine gun he held in his hands.

"Whoopsie." Akito cried as he dashed in the opposite direction.

He somehow managed to dodge the bullets and skate amateurishly at best. The man with the gun was quickly approaching behind him. Akito looked back with an impish grin and made a sharp turn to the left. The lackey wasn't too fortunate to notice that the hall ended with a giant window. He screamed as he crashed through and plummeted to the ground below. Akito barely had time to breathe seeing as Caspian had finally found him.

"You bastard!" Caspian yelled. "How dare you try to outsmart someone as great as I! You will die by my hands now!"

Akito squeaked in reply and dashed down the hall with new vigor. Caspian, not having the brains to put his Air Treks on before he started the chase was barely managing to keep up without them. He knew Sullivan would not be happy if he let the bait escape. Worry mixed with anger was the only fuel keeping him going. Akito noticed the difficulty his assailant was having in keeping up with him. As he was looking back at Caspian, he didn't notice that he too would soon suffer the same fate as the lackey with the gun. The glass hit him like a ton of bricks before shattering into millions of pieces. A shrill scream escaped the tiny boy's lips as he plummeted to the ground.

'Agito!' he frantically screamed to his other half. 'Please wake up!'

Agito began to stir in their shared mind. His eyes snapped open immediately when he noticed the danger their body was in. Akito's hand snapped up and quickly switched the eye patch before Agito's skates landed on the building they were falling from. He used this as a leverage to launch himself into the night air and away from the people that had made a fool out of him so easily.

"They will pay." Agito growled angrily. "I will bathe in their blood."


	12. Change 12: A new Feeling

**Here it is. Finally the moment you've all prolly been waiting for! I hope... Anywho, I own nothing but the Oc's and the plot line. **

Cat's breath came in ragged gasps by the time she finally reached Ikki's house. The nurse was right. She was in no condition to be straining her body. She hurriedly banged on the door in the hopes that someone would answer. Ringo gasped when she answered the door only to find Cat there.

"Cat!" she exclaimed happily as she pulled the other girl into a hug. "We thought something terrible had happened to you."

Cat cringed as she struggled to get out of Ringo's death grip. She could already feel her cut dripping blood again. "Too hard. Still hurt."

Ringo quickly let go of Cat and watched in horror as she fell to the ground. Her blood had already soaked through the bandages and was beginning to stain her shirt.

"Are you alright?" Ringo asked as she helped Cat to her feet.

"I'll survive." Cat groaned as she lifted her shirt over her head. "I need to change these bandages."

"Hey Ringo." Ikki called as he walked into the room. "What's for dinner?"

He was completely unaware of the other female in the room. That is, until he looked up to she the Shadow Queen bloody and shirtless.

"Holy shit, Cat!" he exclaimed as he ran up to her, his nose bleeding profusely.

Cat growled and lightly punched him in the gut. "Get your mind out of the gutter, fucking crow, and get me some clean bandages!"

Ikki coughed and gave a half hearted salute. "Yes M'am!"

Ringo led Cat to the bathroom and helped her remove the bloody wrappings. She then grabbed a wet wash cloth and proceeded to wash the blood off of the other storm rider. When Ringo was done, Cat examined her wound closely. The skin around the cut was an angry pink color. Some of the stitches had already been ripped out and blood oozed lazily out of it.

"I'm going to go see where the idiot is with those bandages." Ringo told her before opening the door and leaving.

Agito landed silently beside his new home. He figured he would enter through the bathroom window in order to avoid the ruckus of those idiots he hated so much. He slid open the window slowly and crept inside.

Cat turned toward the window when she heard a noise. Her eyes widened in horror when she saw the Fang King standing there.

"What the fuck you little pervert!" she cried as she hastily tried to cover her top half up.

Agito's face turned three shades of red as he quickly turned the other direction.

"Sorry." he muttered quietly.

The door to the bathroom was then kicked off of its' hinges by none other than Ikki himself. He was followed by Ringo and her other sisters, Mikan and Ume. The group looked at the scene in wonder. There stood the midget with a half naked Cat beside him. A sly smile crept onto Ikki's face as he looked on.

"Well, well, well." he murmured creepily. "Could it be that our two smallest members have been canoodling secretly?"

Cat turned toward him and planted a well aimed kick at his head. Ikki flew backward and crashed into the wall behind him.

You forget, Crow." she growled angrily. "That I am still topless and you are intruding."

She looked at the rest of the group and sighed.

"Not like that, you idiots." Cat said though gritted teeth. "I was bout to beat the perverted midget over there into oblivion for creeping into the bathroom like a pervert!"

Agito turned around and began to rant. "Fucking woman! It's your fault for being in the damn bathroom in the first place! And with boobs like yours, you aren't even worth my time!"

Cat huffed angrily and proceeded to kick the Fang King wherever she could land a hit.

"You. Stupid. Little. Asshole!" she exclaimed. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

Agito scoffed and blocked every kick the Shadow Queen aimed at him.

"You're going to break open your wound again." he stated bluntly as he caught her foot, mid-kick.

Cat glared and wrenched her foot from his grasp. "Fine."

She turned and attempted to walk from the bathroom. She took about three steps before collapsing onto the floor in a heap.

"Well, what are all of you looking at?" Agito growled. "Go get the bitch some help."

Ringo, Mikan, and Ume scrambled out the bathroom in a hurry to find some bandages and what not. Ikki was still passed out in the wall, so he wouldn't be of much help. Agito sighed and walked over to the fallen girl.

"I am not a bitch." she grumbled weakly. "And I do so have nice boobs."

"Tch." Agito replied as he lifted Cat off of the ground. "Stop being annoying."

"W-what are you doing?" Cat stuttered as she hastily tried to cover herself up.

"I won't look, stupid woman." Agito told her. "Stop moving so I don't drop you. Not that I wouldn't mind dropping you."

"Screw off." Cat huffed.

Agito laughed inwardly at the weak behavior of the woman in his arms. He walked into his room and placed Cat on his bed gently.

"Why are you being so nice?" she asked quietly.

"I need you alive so I can bathe in the blood of Lilith and Caspian." he replied bluntly.

"Oh." was all that came from Cat.

Agito moved closer to the girl and subconsciously trailed a hand down her wound. Cat shivered at the touch and squirmed a little.

"It's going to leave a nice scar when it heals." he whispered in her ear.

"I know." Cat murmured as she moved to a sitting position.

A knock at his door caused both of them to jump slightly.

"I brought bandages and another shirt." Ringo called from behind the door.

Agito opened the door, took the bandages and the shirt and then slammed the door in Ringo's face.

"What did you do that for?" Cat asked incredulously.

"She annoys the piss out of me." he replied as he forced her to a standing position.

He then took the bandages and wrapped them around Cat's cut. She winced slightly at how rough Agito was being.

"Could you be a little more gentle?" she asked. "I would like to still be able to breathe you know."

"Stop complaining, woman and just deal with it." Agito replied angrily.

As soon as he finished, Cat turned and sent a fist toward his face. Agito smirked and caught the fist easily. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"Oh yeah?" Cat growled back. "And why shouldn't I?"

Agito easily twisted Cat's arm behind her back and roughly crashed hip lips upon hers. Cat's eyes widened briefly before closing and returning the kiss with full force. When they finally pulled apart, both teens had pink dusted across their cheeks.

"I should put a shirt on." Cat mumbled as she hastily pulled the borrowed one on.

The quick movement caused Cat to wince in pain slightly. Agito noticed and scoffed.

"Stupid woman. Just get into my bed already. You look like you're about to pass out."

Cat signed in defeat and climbed into the Fang King's bed.

"Wha-what do you think you're doing, midget?" she stammered when she noticed Agito doing the same thing.

"I am going to sleep in my own fucking bed and make sure you don't do anything stupid."

She stiffened as she felt the warmth of another body so close to her. Surprisingly, Cat didn't mind it as much as she thought she would. She curled closer to the Fang King and sighed in content as she drifted into a peaceful slumber.

Agito looked at the orange haired girl curled comfortably into his chest. She fit perfectly, almost as if she was made exactly for that spot.

'_Agi-kun has a girlfriend.' Akito teased. _

'_Shut up.' Agito replied weakly. _

He ignored the rantings of his other half and wrapped an arm protectively around the Shadow Queen before falling asleep as well.


	13. Fake Change 13: Halloween Special

-Authors note- Well, well, well, my lovely readers. It has been too long. I do apologize for that. College sucks, it's all papers and tests and more papers and I hate it. Anywho, the last chapter surprised me almost as much as it did to you. I had no idea I had fluff in me :3 Wellp on with the story! And disclaimer..I do not own Air Gear in any way at all. I only own Cat and my awesome plotline. J I feel the need to add a Halloween special so here it is!

The clouds hung over the moon ominously, setting the tone for the upcoming holiday. The Noyamano boarding house was a bustle as the sisters prepared for the upcoming party.

"Are you sure you're in the mood, Cat?" Ringo asked in a cautious voice.

Cat smiled sadly before replying. "Of course. Halloween is my favorite time of year."

Ringo smiled as she helped the Shadow Queen set up a table to place the bobbing for apples station on.

"When is Ikki getting back from getting apples?" Ume asked as she placed a bucket on the table.

Both girls shrugged in reply. Soon, the living room and kitchen looked positively spooky. Cat had brought a fog machine from home and had set it up in front of the door. Fog poured from the mouth of the machine and settled all around the room. As Cat looked at their work she was troubled by the strangest feeling that they had forgotten something.

'What the hell am I forgetting?' she thought to herself.

"What are you dressing up as tonight, Cat?" Ume asked with a smile.

Cat blinked a few times before smacking her forehead.

"I am so stupid." she muttered bitterly. "I completely forgot to get one."

"I don't know why the fuck you dragged me on this trip, crow." Agito growled.

Ikki just looked at him with a sly smile that made Akito die inside.

"_My Ikki-kun is just soo adorable." Akito gushed._

Agito shuddered at the comment from his other half. Soon, they were at the grocery store. Ikki quickly left Agito to his own devices as he went in search of apples.

"Cat and Ringo would probably kill me if I can't find them." he muttered to himself as he searched the isles.

Agito scoffed as he walked through the store aimlessly.

"_I wonder what Cat-chan is dressing up as?" Akito mused. _

"_Why the fuck should I care?" Agito replied._

"_Because you and Cat-chan would be so cute together!" Akito squealed. _

"_I am not dressing up for this fucking lame ass party." Agito growled._

Agito could sense the devilsh smile that appeared on his other half's lips. Before Agito even had time to blink, Akito switched the eye patch to his right eye.

"Sorry Agi-pyon, but you are going to dress up for this party." Akito said as he ran to find Ikki.

Ikki had just found the apples when he was attacked by a certain former Fang King.

"IKKIIII_K~un!" Akito screamed as he snuggled into the crow's back.

"What the hell Akito!" Ikki yelled. "Get off!"

Akito complied with his wishes and slid off of Ikki's back.

"I need your help Ikki-kun." Akito said in a suddenly serious voice. "We need to find a costume for Agi-kun."

Ikki smiled evily at the thought of dressing up the shark.

"I think I have the perfect idea." Ikki told Akito as he led the boy out of the grocery store with the apples.

"I can't believe you forgot the most important thing." Ringo sighed.

Cat laughed nervously and looked away from the sisters. "I know."

"I think I have something we can pull together." Ringo said as she grabbed Cat's hand and led her into her room.

"Why do you have a ball gown?" Cat asked slowly as Ringo threw it at her.

Ringo laughed as she rememberd the day she bought it in her head. "I kinda just had an impulse to buy it."

Cat looked at the gown in confusion. She had no idea where the thing began. Ringo noticed the confusion and sighed.

"I'll help you put it on."

Soon Ringo was tying the last ribbon on the corset back dress. Cat shuffled her feet nervously as she waited for Ringo to finish.

"Done." Ringo said with a smile.

Cat walked awkwardly over to the mirror and gasped. The dress was a deep forest green that matched perfectly with her hair. It was strapless and the bodice was that of a corset before it poofed out in a mixture of greens to the floor. Cat put her black high tops in underneath. Ringo had protested at first, but had finally given in when Cat had threatened to tell Ikki about Ringo's crush.

"Put your fangs in and you can be a vampire princess." Ringo had suggested before she left to go put her costume on.

Cat complied and had also fixed herself to look pale and vampire-like. When she walked out of the bathroom to find Ringo, she almost laughed at the costume. All Ringo had done was make her school uniform look hot.

Ringo blushed under Cat's intense gaze. "I-is it too much?"

Cat laughed and replied. "Nope. Ikki will definitely like it."

"I am not wearing this." Agito growled as he glared at himself in the mirror.

He and Ikki had snuck into Ikki's room after they returned from the store. He didn't want anyone to see his awesome super secret costume until the party officially started.

"You look great. All Vampire-y and stuff." Ikki told him.

Apparently Akito had dressed him in black slacks and a black t-shirt. He had carelessly tousled his hair and had put a black velvet top hat on. Akito smiled and his work.

"_I didn't even need to buy fangs coz you have them already." Akito teased. _

"_Shut up." Agito growled in reply. _

Agito blanched when he saw Ikki's costume. "What the hell are you supposed to be?"

"I am a tape measure!"Ikki said excitedly.

Ikki did in fact look like a tape measure except the actual tape part was in a very suggestive place.

"You are a fucking idiot." Agito deadpanned.

"And you are the most adorable vampire I have ever seen." Ikki retorted which only earned him a kick to the head.

Agito then stormed out of the idiot crow's room with the apples in his hand.

"Here." he told Mikan as he handed her the apples.

Mikanwho was currently dressed as her favorite superhero, placed the apples into the bucket of water.

"Don't even say it." Agito growled when he noticed the look on her face.

"Just go see who's at the door." she told him with a smirk when the door was knocked upon.

"It's probably the other idiots." he replied.

Kazu, Onigiri, and Buucha burst through the door right at that moment. Buucha, who was dressed as Bowser from Mario Kart went right to the food table.

"Don't even fatass!" Mikan screamed. "The party hasn't started yet!"

Onigiri laughed at the look on Buucha's face. He was dressed as a Yakuza member. Ak-47 in tow as well. Kazu probably had the outfit that was the easiest to make. He had on a white shirt with the word Pizza written on it.

The last to arrive were Ringo, Cat and Ume who were upstairs putting on the finishing touches. As soon as they walked down the stairs, all three boys began to get nosebleeds.

"Fuck off!" Cat growled as she sulked down the stairs.

Ringo however began to punch the three boys in the head.

"Perverts! Just because a girl wants to dress a little differently….!" Ringo shrieked as she continued to hit them.

"The party can officially begin!" Ikki cried from the top of the stairs.

All eyes were on him as he descended the stairs. His costume earned him high fives from the guys minus Agito and glares of disapproval from the girls. The party officially began when Emily and Yayoi arrived, both dressed as angels.

Cat began to get tired of the loud music and crowded room. She quickly walked outside and jumped up to the roof.

"Stupid dress." she muttered as she almost fell of the roof.

She pulled herself up from the side of the roof and scuttled to her desired spot.

"What the fuck are you doing up here?" an angry voice asked.

"Getting some air. What the fuck does it look like I'm doing, idiot." Cat retorted with a glare.

When Agito got a better look at the girl walking toward him, he almost gasped out loud. She was positively radiant in the moonlight. It made her exposed skin seem to glow and made her eyes seem more amber.

"So what are you supposed to be?" she asked as she plopped down beside him.

"A fucking vampire." he replied.

Cat tapped his shoulder lightly and smiled. When Agito saw her fangs, he figured that she was a vampire too. Dark thoughts began to invade Agito's mind and his body seemed to react before his brain did. Cat gasped as the Fang King pushed her on her back and grabbed her wrists with one hand.

"This means you're mine." he whispered in her ear.

'Curse this dress.'' Cat grumbled mentally as she fought the shiver running down her spine.

Cat took Agito's closeness to her advantage. She lifted her head slowly and bit Agito's neck. Agito let out a yelp that was unlike him.

"What the fuck was that for?"

Cat smiled. "Well, I am a vampire."

She turned the tables on Agito and was now straddling him. "I win."

"Tch." was the reply that she got.

Cat laughed as she got off of him and looked toward the moon. From the roof, it looked as if she could touch it. She sighed and dropped to her back with her hands behind her head.

"The moon is beautiful tonight." she said with a sigh.

Agito said nothing as he lay down beside her. Several minutes passed before anything was said.

"The moon is stupid." Agito said.

Cat laughed at Agito's sudden childish behavior. Before she thought about it, she cuddled closer to Agito's side.

"What the fuck are you doing now, woman?" Agito growled.

"It's fucking cold and I don't feel like going back into the idiot fest to get a jacket." she replied.

Agito grimaced as he thought about the party. He could hear the music from here and it pissed him off. Cat sighed in content as she continued to cuddle into the Fang King's side. It just felt so right to be there.

"Agito?" she asked in a quiet voice so unlike her.

"What?" he asked in a slightly irritated voice.

His eyes widened in surprise as Cat planted a feather light kiss on his lips.

"Happy Halloween." Cat said with a smile as she jumped of the roof to return to the party.


	14. Change 13: A new Past

**-****So so so sorry for not updating like I should. College sucks away any and all free time you have. Well that and I have been a lazy girl. (Bad Kattis!) Thanks everyone for putting up with my ridiculous update schedule. And thank you SOO much for reviewing and reading this! Anyways, here is the long awaited next chapter in my series. **

**-Oh side note, does anyone want to draw some of my characters? I'll love you forever if you do. And you shall get a digital cupcake, which is the most delicious of all cupcakes!**

"Sullivan." his chief executive said in her nasally clipped tone. "Business has fallen by twelve percent. What is the meaning of this?"

"Miss Raynes, I would kindly appreciate you calling me Mr. Burke." he replied calmly.

His Italian leather shoes clicked as he walked toward his underling. "All in good time, everything will come into place so don't worry about a thing."

Miss Raynes nodded and quickly dashed from Sullivan's office. He sighed and ran a hand over his hair. He needed to put his plan into action soon before his company fell completely.

A knock on his door, pulled Sullivan from his bitter thoughts.

"Well come in." he grumbled before moving to sit behind his desk.

Caspian slowly opened the door with Lilith in tow. "Sullivan, We-"

"Silence!" Sullivan bellowed. "I am sick and tired of your incompetence. You have tried my patience for the last time."

"But sir," Lilith protested. "You could not have expected us to anticipate that brat joining a team here."

"Yeah." Caspian chimed in. "She has powerful allies now."

Both twins jumped as Sullivan slammed his fist onto his desk. "That is no excuse! She is not that hard of a target to eliminate!"

"We're sorry sir." both twins whimpered at the same time. "We'll do better next time."

Sullivan chuckled darkly as he moved toward them. "There will not be a next time, you fools."

Caspian gaped at his boss, dread in his green eyes. Lilith clutched onto her brother as both feared the worst. The glint of shining metal reflected in both twins eyes as Sullivan came closer.

"No!" Lilith screamed as she dragged her brother toward the door. "We'll do better we swear!"

Desperate tears fell from her eyes as she clawed at the barricaded door.

"Your punishment is well deserved, my dear children." Sullivan said in a deadly calm voice. "Take this with grace and I might just overlook your blunder. After all, you two owe me for many things."

_Rain poured from the sky as two identical twins scoured garbage cans in the desolate alleyways of a town in Russia. _

"_I'm so hungry, brother." a ten year old Lilith mumbled weakly. _

"_I know." Caspian whispered in reply. _

_Caspian, being a whole ten minutes older than his sister felt he needed to take the role of the strong older brother. He knew Lilith blamed herself for their mother's death and their father reminded her of that fact everyday. Well before they killed him that is. _

_Caspian was snapped out of his thoughts by a loud thud. Lilith had managed to crawl over to a garbage can and attempt to find food. In her haste, she managed to dump it all over herself. _

"_Lilith!' Caspian screamed as he ran over to her. "Are you okay?"_

_Lilith smiled in delight and held out the slightly moldy bread. She ripped open the plastic casing on it and handed the less moldy pieces to her brother. "You can have the better ones this time." _

_Caspian shook his head and pushed the bread back toward her. "You eat those. You need it more than I do." _

'_Someday we'll escape this hell.' he thought bitterly as he watched his sister eat. _

_He knew that this would be a result of their father's death, but even this was better than living with that bastard. He had multiple scars from the beating his father used to give him everyday. He couldn't even imagine what his twin had gone through. She would always come out of the basement, bloodied and barely able to stand. Their father might have hated both of them, but he hated Lilith the worst. _

"_It's your fault, my beautiful Alesandra is dead!" he would scream. "You are a child of the devil!" _

_Caspian just couldn't understand why a father would hate his children so much. When he had begun to burn Lilith is when Caspian made up his mind. _

"_We cannot let him do this to you sister." Caspian whispered to his sister as she crawled up the stairs after another beating. _

"_But it is my fault mother is dead. I am a devil child." she protested. _

"_It is not!" Caspian growled. "If father thinks we are children of the devil, then let us act like it." _

_Killing their father had been simple. They waited until he was passed out drunk and the proceeded to strangle an stab him. Lilith held the pillow over his face, while Caspian took a kitchen knife and drove it through his chest multiple times. Afterwards, they lit the mattress on fire and then fled the scene. _

A shrill scream broke Caspian out of his memories. Sullivan had managed to pin Lilith down and was now slashing the word failure on her back with his small dagger.

"Enough!" Caspian growled as he attempted to push the older man off of his twin.

Sullivan smiled and let go of the smaller twin. "Fine, but now it is your turn."

"Fine." he grunted in reply.

Blood seeped from the deep slashes in his arms as Sullivan glided the dagger up and down them.

"Let this be a lesson to you." he said in his eerie calm voice. "I do not take kindly to failure and mistakes."

He then walked over to his desk and pressed the button that unlocked his doors. He watched in wicked glee as both twins scrambled out of his office.

"That man will not get away with this." Caspian growled as he rubbed antiseptic on his sister's morbid tattoo.

"What can we do, brother?" Lilith whimpered. "We owe that man our lives."

_It had been about a month since the death of their father and both twins were not doing well. They barely managed to find food and it was showing. _

"_Caspian, I think mother is calling us." Lilith whispered in a dead voice. "We should go to her." _

_Caspian looked at his sister in fear. "Mother is dead, Lilith. You have to stay here with me!" _

_Lilith ignored the calls of her twin and closed her eyes, a blissful smile on her sunken face. Caspian panicked. He grabbed his sister and drug her out of the alley that had made their home. _

"_Please!" he called into the empty streets. "Help us!" _

_After what seemed like hours of screaming, his voice finally broke. He collapsed into a heap and began to cry. _

"_My dear child." a silky voice said beside him. "Why are you crying?" _

_Caspian could not speak anymore, so he merely pointed to his sister. The man knelt down by the girl and leaned his head in close. _

"_She is still breathing." he said. "How about you come with me and I will take care of this mess?"_

_Caspian merely nodded and took the mans hand. _

'We still haven't escaped our hell.' Caspian thought as he bandaged his sister's wound.

"Let me fix you up now, Caspian." Lilith said.

He nodded and grunted in pain as Lilith cleaned the cuts on his arms.

"We cannot fail again." she said in a small voice. "I fear what Sullivan will do to us if it happens again."

"He will do nothing, because we will not fail next time." Caspian replied. "We are better and stronger than that brat of a child. She will not know what hit her the next time we meet."

"We must prepare then." Lilith replied as she finished fixing her twins arms.


	15. Change 14: A new Death

**A.N- Hello dear readers. Sorry for the terrible updates. I would like to thank everyone who has put up with me so far. I'm glad people are still reading this. Don't hate me for this chapter. I am such a mean authoress. If I was Cat, I would beat me with something sharp and pointy. Anywho, enjoy. **

**3 Kattis**

Neither Cat nor Agito would acknowledge each other after the incident. Both had tried to play it off as a spur of the moment thing. Cat refused to admit that she had feelings for the Fang King.

'What is wrong with me?' she thought bitterly as she trudged home. 'I don't have time for this.'

A light blush crept onto her cheeks as she played the event in her head. For someone so vicious and mean, Agito had surprisingly soft lips. She figured that had to be Akito's doing. She couldn't imagine an angry Agito putting chapstick on. Soon, an eruption of giggles escaped her lips as she continued to think of Agito and chapstick.

"Mom!" she called into her home. "I'm back!"

It was eerily quiet in her home. Cat quickly put her things by the door and crept silently toward the kitchen. There was no sign of her mother there either. Cat's heart began to pound in her chest as she imagined the worst. As she climbed upstairs, the stench of blood assaulted her nose. Cat gagged as she ran toward her mother's room.

"Mom?" she whispered, opening the door.

The sight before her almost made her puke. She dropped to her knees as the scene continued to assault her mind. There lie her mother, with half of her face mutilated beyond recognition. It was obvious what Cat's mother had done. The small pistol remained clutched in her limp hand. As soon as Cat regained her composure, she stepped into the bedroom and began to look for anything to explain why this had happened. After about ten minutes of searching, she gave up. Unable to bear the sight anymore, she dashed from the room and into her own. Her vision blurred as she shoved clothes and other necessities into a large backpack. She made sure she had her A-T kit and regalia before shutting off the light and closing the door. As soon as she made it down the stairs, great sobs began to spill from her mouth. She hastily wiped the tears from her eyes and strapped her Treks on.

"Tokyo police station, what is your emergency?" a friendly voice asked.

"My mother is dead." Cat replied through the phone. "I think she shot herself."

"Wha-what?" the voice asked obviously shocked. "What is your address?"

"I-I can't do this anymore." Cat cried. "Just trace this phone. I can't stay here."

With that, she threw the phone onto the floor and hurried out the door.

"Cat?" Ikki questioned when he opened the door. "What are you doing here."

Cat didn't answer as she pushed past the boy and made her way into the living room. From there, she removed her A-T's and plopped onto the couch. She pulled her knees into her chest and began to rock back and forth.

"What's wrong?" Ikki asked as he approached her. "Did something happen?"

"I don't wanna talk about it." Cat mumbled into her knees.

She would not bring anyone else into her problems. There was nothing they could do to help anyways. Her mother had done it of her own free will and that was that.

"Do you think anyone would mind if I stayed here for a while?" she asked the crow. "Please don't ask why?"

"Well, I'm not really sure we have room…" Ikki mumbled as he continued to look at the broken girl before him. "What brought this on though."

Cat clutched her knees tighter to her chest as unwanted tears fell from her eyes. She hastily tried to suck it in, but found that she couldn't. Ringo and Mikan heard the spectacle from the kitchen and came to investigate. Upon seeing the sobbing shadow queen both girls assumed the worst and began to beat the poor crow to a pulp.

"Stupid pervert!" Ringo screamed as she slapped him hard across the face. "What did you do to make Cat cry?"

Ikki attempted to answer, but was immediately silenced by Mikan who landed a great uppercut to his jaw.

"I…d-didn't do…anything." Ikki whispered feebly from the ground.

Both sisters ignored him and sat next to Cat on the couch.

"What did that idiot do to you?" Ringo asked as she rubbed her hand up and down Cat's back.

"N-nothing. It's not his fault at all." she replied in a broken whisper.

Cat couldn't take the worried glances of her new friends much longer.

'I will not involve them in my problems.' she thought as she gathered her things and fled to the fang king's room.

She quickly opened the door and threw herself onto his bed, not caring if she was beaten for it later.

Sullivan smiled as the police contacted him. As her only remaining relative, he would assume full custody of the girl.

"We just don't know where she is." the voice spoke from the receiver. "It seems she fled the scene as soon as she called us. We will do everything within our abilities to find her and bring her to you."

"Please hurry." Sullivan replied, fake worry laced into every word. "I can only imagine how scared my poor niece is."

With that he hung up the phone. 'It's only a matter of time before those regalia are mine.' he thought darkly.

Agito walked into his home with a scowl on his face. Lately, Kogarasumaru had not found any other teams to battle and it was pissing him off. Aside from those few battles with those stupid twins, he had not been able to carve his road into anyone.

'_Don't be so mad Agi-pyon.' Akito said. 'Battles are scary. Ikki-kun could get hurt…'_

'_Shut up.' Agito replied. 'How the fuck am I supposed to ride my road with no prey to devour?' _

Akito remained silent. He figured it would be better for his other half to brood for a while.

Agito noticed the tense atmosphere in the living room as soon as he walked in. "What the hell is everyone's problem?"

"Cat's here." Ikki replied in a small voice. He was still recovering for his accidental beating.

Agito merely nodded in acknowledgement and continued toward his room. He was still pretty irritated and could care less if that stupid girl was here or not.

"What the fuck are you doing in my room, brat?" he growled as soon as he opened the door.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" she replied angrily.

"Tch." Agito scoffed. "I don't have time for your bullshit. Get out."

"And go where?" she asked. "Everyone in my family is dead and it's all my fault."

It took her a moment to realize she let that fact slip. She covered her mouth with both hands and turned away from the fang king.

'_You should be nice to her.' Akito scolded. 'She's hurting. Bad.'_

Agito inwardly scoffed and walked over to Cat. Taking the advice of his other half, he pulled the broken girl into a hug.

"I thought I said I was the only one allowed to make you cry." he muttered into her hair. "Tell me who did this."

Cat gasped at the sudden action. This was so unlike him. Strangely, she found it comforting. She settled into his embrace and began to whisper what had happened.

"She's a fucking coward." Agito muttered when Cat had finally finished. "You are better off without that spineless woman."

Rough hands gripped his chest tightly. "Don't talk about my mother that way."

Cat's glare could freeze hell over. She struggled to get out of Agito's death grip on her. Only he could take a nice moment and screw it up by pissing her off.

"You're an asshole, Agito. Let me go." she growled as she continued to struggle.

"You think different of your mother?" he asked honestly. "She knew she had another daughter to take care of, and yet she fucking kills herself and leaves you to fend for yourself."

"She….she," Cat feebly replied. Her argument was dying as soon as it reached her mouth. "She…I don't know."

Cat was too tired to argue further. Agito noticed the girl's exhaustion and began to lead her to his bed. Cat complied with his wishes and crawled into his bed without any complaints. With sleepy eyes, Cat leaned toward Agito and placed a feather light kiss on his forehead.

"Thanks for trying." she whispered.

"Tch." came his trademark phrase as he struggled to contain his blush. "Just go to sleep."


End file.
